Celanese (CE) Beats Q4 Earnings and Revenue Estimates

Core Insights - Celanese reported quarterly earnings of $1.45 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.20 per share, but down from $2.24 per share a year ago, indicating a 35.2% year-over-year decline [1] - The company achieved revenues of $2.37 billion for the quarter, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.03%, but down from $2.57 billion in the same quarter last year [2] - Celanese's stock has underperformed the market, losing approximately 1.7% year-to-date compared to the S&P 500's gain of 4% [3] Earnings Performance - The earnings surprise for the recent quarter was 20.83%, while the previous quarter saw a negative surprise of -14.08% [1][2] - Over the last four quarters, Celanese has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times [2] Future Outlook - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is $1.87 on revenues of $2.48 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is $8.79 on revenues of $10.21 billion [7] - The estimate revisions trend for Celanese is currently unfavorable, resulting in a Zacks Rank 5 (Strong Sell), indicating expected underperformance in the near future [6] Industry Context - The Chemical - Specialty industry, to which Celanese belongs, is currently ranked in the bottom 21% of over 250 Zacks industries, suggesting potential challenges ahead [8] - Empirical research indicates a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions, which could impact Celanese's stock performance [5]