Yahoo Finance Sociedad Quimica (SQM) Q1 Earnings and Sales Trounce Estimates
Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. SQM recorded a profit of $796.1 million or $2.79 per share for first-quarter 2022, up from $68 million 26 cents in the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share for the reported quarter topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.23.
The company registered revenues of $2,019.8 million for the quarter, up nearly fourfold year over year. It also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,283.7 million.
The company gained from higher prices across its business lines with a significant increase in lithium prices in the reported quarter.
Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. Quote
Segment Highlights
Revenues from the Lithium and Derivatives segment surged more than tenfold year over year to $1,446.4 million in the reported quarter. The upside was driven by strong lithium sales volumes and prices.
The Specialty Plant Nutrients ("SPN") segment raked in revenues of $275.3 million, up around 42% year over year. The upside was mainly driven by higher prices.
Revenues from the Iodine and Derivatives unit came in at $152.4 million, up around 59% year over year. The segment benefited from higher volumes on strong demand recovery as well as higher average prices.
Revenues from the Potassium Chloride and Potassium Sulfate business jumped around 89% year over year to $114.1 million. Sales were driven by a significant increase in average prices.
The Industrial Chemicals unit recorded sales of $27.1 million, down around 26% year over year, hurt by reduced solar salts sales volumes.
Financials
The company’s cash and cash equivalents were $5,898.9 million at the end of the quarter, up around 29% on a sequential basis. Long-term debt was $2,567.4 million, down around 0.8% sequentially.
Outlook
Moving ahead, the company envisions global lithium market to growth at least 30% in 2022. It expects sales volumes to exceed 140,000 metric tons this year. The lockdowns in China may somewhat impact volumes in the second quarter, the company noted.
In SPN, the company expects sustained supply restrictions and higher prices to impact demand growth in the agricultural potassium nitrate market, impacting its sales volumes in 2022.
The company also expects iodine prices to continue to rise in the coming quarters. It also sees sales volumes for potassium chloride to reach around 750,000 metric tons in 2022.
Price Performance
Shares of Sociedad Quimica are up 125.9% over a year compared with the industry’s rise of 55.2%.
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Sociedad Quimica currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Other top-ranked stocks worth considering in the basic materials space include Commercial Metals Company CMC, Nutrien Ltd. NTR and Steel Dynamics, Inc. STLD.
Commercial Metals, carrying a Zacks Rank #1, has a projected earnings growth rate of 78.2% for the current fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMC's current fiscal year earnings has been revised 31.9% upward over the past 60 days. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Commercial Metals beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters while missed once. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 16%, on average. CMC has gained around 16% in a year.
Nutrien, sporting a Zacks Rank #1, has an expected earnings growth rate of 161.9% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NTR's current-year earnings has been revised 38.8% upward over the last 60 days.
Nutrien beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters while missed once. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 5.8%, on average. NTR has rallied around 59% in a year.
Steel Dynamics, carrying a Zacks Rank #1, has an expected earnings growth rate of 33.8% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for STLD's current-year earnings has been revised 33.8% upward over the last 60 days.
Steel Dynamics beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters, the average being roughly 2.5%. STLD has gained around 22% in a year.
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