AdvanSix's Earnings Surpass Estimates, Revenues Lag in Q4

AdvanSix Inc. ASIX reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings of a penny per share. This is in contrast to a loss of 19 cents in the prior-year quarter. 

Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings in the fourth quarter were 9 cents per share. It beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 37 cents.

Find the latest earnings estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar. 

Revenues of $329.1 million fell roughly 14% year over year. It missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $377.2 million.

Sales volumes fell around 16% mainly due to the delayed ramp to full operating rates following ASIX’s planned plant turnaround in the quarter. Market-based pricing was favorable in the quarter on continued strength in ammonium sulfate and acetone.

AdvanSix Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

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Sales by ASIX’s Product Line

Nylon sales were roughly $67.2 million, down around 14% year over year. It was below the consensus estimate of $81 million.

Caprolactam sales came in at around $57.2 million, down around 31% year over year. It was below the consensus estimate of $77 million.

Chemical Intermediates sales were $102.1 million, flat year over year. It was below the consensus estimate of $103 million.

Plant Nutrients sales fell roughly 14% year over year to around $102.6 million. 

ASIX’s FY24 Results

Earnings (as reported) for full-year 2024 were $1.62 per share, down from $1.95 a year ago.  Sales fell around 1% year over year to around $1,517.6 billion on lower volumes.

ASIX’s Financials

AdvanSix ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of roughly $19.6 million, down roughly 34% year over year. Long-term debt was up around 15% year over year to $195 million.

Cash flow from operations was $64 million in the reported quarter and $135.4 million for full-year 2024. 

AdvanSix’s Outlook

ASIX expects strong sulfur nutrition demand and tight ammonium sulfate supply in North America to support sulfur premiums at or near the top end of the historical range. Balanced global acetone supply and demand conditions are projected to support industry spreads above cycle averages.

The company expects slower recovery for North American nylon industry conditions amid stable end-market demand and increased domestic competitive pressure.

ASIX also sees capital expenditures of $140-$160 million in 2025. 

It expects pre-tax income impact of plant turnarounds to be $25-$30 million in 2025 compared with roughly $58 million in 2024.

ASIX’s Stock Price Performance

ASIX stock has gained 5.8% in the past year compared with the Zacks Chemicals Specialty industry’s 20.6% decline.

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ASIX’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

ASIX currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are ICL Group Ltd ICL, Fortuna Mining Corp. FSM and Kronos Worldwide, Inc. KRO, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

ICL Group is slated to release fourth-quarter results on Feb.26. The consensus estimate for ICL’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 6 cents. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters at an average of 18.1%.

Fortuna is scheduled to release fourth-quarter results on March 5. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FSM’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 16 cents per share. FSM beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the last four quarters while missing twice, with the average earnings surprise being 53.5%.

Kronos Worldwide is expected to release fourth-quarter results on March 5. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KRO’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 11 cents.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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