ICL Group's Earnings Surpass Estimates, Revenues Lag in Q4

Core Insights - ICL Group Ltd reported a profit of $70 million or 6 cents per share in Q4 2024, an increase from $67 million or 5 cents in the same quarter last year, with adjusted earnings per share at 8 cents, down from 10 cents a year ago, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 6 cents [1][2] Financial Performance - Sales for Q4 2024 fell approximately 5% year over year to $1,601 million, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,704.5 million, with lower sales across all business segments [2] - For the full year 2024, earnings were reported at 32 cents per share, down from 50 cents a year ago, with total sales declining around 9% year over year to approximately $6,841 million [6] Segment Performance - Industrial Products segment sales decreased roughly 6% year over year to $280 million, while EBITDA increased about 25% year over year to $70 million [3] - Potash segment sales dropped around 11% year over year to $422 million, with EBITDA falling 23% year over year to $130 million due to lower potash prices [4] - Phosphate Solutions segment sales fell roughly 2% year over year to $507 million, with EBITDA declining 5% year over year to $132 million [4] - Growing Solutions segment sales declined around 8% year over year to $439 million, but EBITDA surged approximately 240% from the same quarter last year to $51 million [5] Financial Position - At the end of 2024, ICL had cash and cash equivalents of $327 million, down around 22% year over year, while long-term debt increased nearly 4% year over year to $1,909 million [7] - Net cash provided by operating activities was $452 million in Q4 2024 and $1,468 million for the full year [7] Future Guidance - ICL expects EBITDA for specialties-driven segments to be between $0.95 billion and $1.15 billion for 2025, with potash sales volumes projected between 4.5 million metric tons and 4.7 million metric tons [8] Stock Performance - ICL's shares have increased by 13.3% over the past year, contrasting with a 5.5% decline in the Zacks Fertilizers industry [9]