By Connor Hart

Hexcel lowered its outlook for this year, citing a decline in production rates, as its logged lower-than-expected profit and sales in the first quarter.

The maker of lightweight structural materials now expects adjusted per-share earnings of $1.85 to $2.05, down from a prior view of $2.05 to $2.25. It also cut its sales forecast to between $1.88 billion and $1.95 billion from between $1.95 billion and $2.05 billion.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect adjusted earnings of $2.12 a share and revenue of $1.98 billion for the year.

"As a result of continued supply chain driven delays in commercial aircraft production rate ramps, particularly on the Airbus A350 program, our 2025 growth will not be what we initially forecasted," Chief Executive Tom Gentile said.

The company also noted that its outlooks don't include the potential impact of any new tariffs announced after March 31.

Shares fell 3% to $49 in after-hours trading on Monday. Through the close the stock is down 19% this year.

Looking forward, Gentile said the company will focus on carefully managing costs, including managing its headcount. The company is generally not replacing jobs lost to attrition and currently employs about 100 fewer workers than it did at the end of last year. Hexcel employed 5,894 full-time employees and contract workers as of Dec. 31, according to its most recent annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Net income in the quarter fell to $28.9 million, or 35 cents a share, from $36.5 million, or 43 cents a share, from a year earlier.

Adjusted per-share earnings of 37 cents missed the 42 cents that analysts polled by FactSet modeled.

Sales fell 3.3% to $456.5 million, coming in below the $472.1 million that analysts forecast.

"Despite these near-term challenges in the commercial aerospace market, we are seeing growth in our Defense and Space business, and we remain focused on enhancing the value Hexcel brings to our customers and strengthening the overall business through innovation and continual improvement," Gentile said.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 21, 2025 17:07 ET (21:07 GMT)

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