By Senad Karaahmetovic
Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) shares are moving lower in pre-open Tuesday after the chemical company reported weaker-than-expected Q4 results.
Huntsman reported an adjusted EPS of $0.04 on revenue of $1.65 billion, which compares to the average analyst estimate for earnings per share of $0.11 on sales of $1.55B. Revenue fell 28% year-over-year as Polyurethanes sales dropped 23%, with the company blaming demand weakness primarily in Europe and America.
"We made great progress in our cost reduction programs to offset historically high inflation and energy costs and strengthen our core businesses," said Peter Huntsman, the company's CEO, President, and Chairman.
On the outlook front, Huntsman added:
"Turning to 2023, we are optimistic that destocking will end in the first part of 2023 and fundamentals in our businesses will begin to modestly improve as we move through the year, but visibility into the second half is still low. We are seeing some green shoots in areas like China, automotive, and aerospace, but construction demand globally is still under pressure."
The company also said it expects adjusted EBITDA to come in between $115 million and $140M, missing consensus.
"1Q23 guidance of $115-140mn of EBITDA is below our $201mn estimate, with all segment EBITDA guided below our expectations," Stifel analysts said in a client note.
Similarly, the EBITDA guidance came in below Wells Fargo and KeyBanc's estimates, which were sitting at $150M and $145M, respectively.