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Investing.com -- Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) shares tumbled 13.3% after the specialty materials maker reported second-quarter earnings that missed analyst expectations and issued guidance that fell significantly short of Wall Street forecasts.
The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.60 for the second quarter, below the analyst estimate of $1.73. Revenue came in at $2.29 billion, slightly missing the consensus estimate of $2.3 billion and declining 3.2% compared to $2.36 billion in the same quarter last year. The disappointing results were compounded by weak third-quarter guidance of $1.25 per share, well below the consensus estimate of $1.91.
"The second quarter presented significant challenges, and I am proud of the way our team fought to deliver resilient earnings in our specialty businesses," said Mark Costa, Board Chair and CEO. "As expected, the macroeconomic backdrop showed little signs of seasonal improvements across our end markets."
The company cited several factors for the earnings miss, including an unplanned outage in its Chemical Intermediates segment that reduced EBIT by approximately $20 million. Additionally, ongoing weak demand in key end markets such as building and construction and automotive OEM production weighed on the Advanced Materials segment, where sales revenue decreased 2% due to lower sales volume/mix.
Looking ahead, Eastman Chemical expects continued challenges in the second half of the year. The company plans to reduce inventory by more than $200 million below current levels, which will create a $75 million to $100 million asset utilization headwind to earnings in the back half of the year, with around $50 million impacting the third quarter.
Despite these challenges, Eastman expects to generate full-year operating cash flow of approximately $1 billion as declines in cash earnings will be partially offset by a release of working capital. The company also noted that its Kingsport methanolysis facility continues to operate well and remains on track to produce more than 2.5 times more recycled content than in 2024.
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