Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) reported its Q3 results last week, with EPS of $0.71 coming in worse than the Street estimate of $0.77. Revenue was $2.01 billion, missing the Street estimate of $2.03 billion.
The results were highlighted by the following: (1) EBITDA was in line with the mid-September preannouncement, (2) Q4 EBITDA guidance was 43% below consensus (midpoint), (3) the company announced a new European restructuring program that is expected to save $40 million or 3% of 2022 EBITDA and (4) management provided a cautiously optimistic outlook for 2023 on moderating US inflation, a rebound in Chinese demand and the beginning of stabilization in Europe.
It was a challenging quarter for the company as sharply higher energy costs in Europe, weak demand in Europe and construction-related markets and a slower-than-expected recovery in China drove EBITDA down 27% year-over-year. And with these trends continuing into Q4 coupled with customer destocking, FX headwinds and lower fixed cost absorption, the company guided Q4 EBITDA down 60% year-over-year.