Overview
U.S. specialty materials maker's Q1 revenue fell 5% yr/yr, slightly beating analyst expectations
Adjusted EPS for Q1 beat consensus, aided by cost savings and improved specialty volumes
Company raised prices by ~$500 mln across portfolio to offset inflation
Outlook
Eastman projects Q2 2026 adjusted EPS between $1.70 and $1.90
Company expects stable demand in consumer discretionary markets, except automotive, which will decline
Eastman aims to reduce costs by $125 mln to $150 mln, net of inflation, in 2026
Result Drivers
SPECIALTY VOLUME IMPROVEMENT - Sequential sales volume/mix in specialty businesses rose over 10% as demand improved and customer inventory caution eased
INVENTORY DESTOCKING & WEAK DEMAND - Year-over-year revenue decline driven by customer inventory destocking in acetate tow and continued weak demand in consumer discretionary end markets
PRICE INCREASES TO OFFSET INFLATION - Co implemented ~$500 mln of price increases across portfolio to address substantial raw material and distribution inflation
Company press release: ID:nBw2J39xPa
Key Details
Metric
Beat/Miss
Actual
Consensus Estimate
Q1 Revenue
Slight Beat*
$2.18 bln
$2.17 bln (12 Analysts)
Q1 Adjusted EPS
Beat
$1.09
$1.06 (13 Analysts)
Q1 EPS
$0.93
*Applies to a deviation of less than 1%; not applicable for per-share numbers.
Analyst Coverage
The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 10 "strong buy" or "buy", 8 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"
The average consensus recommendation for the specialty chemicals peer group is "buy"
Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Eastman Chemical Co is $78.50, about 11.5% above its April 29 closing price of $70.42
The stock recently traded at 11 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 10 three months ago
For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.
(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)