SunCoke Energy (NYSE: SXC) shares plummeted 5.58% in early trading on Tuesday, despite the company reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results. The steep decline suggests that investors may be focusing on the company's full-year outlook, which appears to have fallen short of market expectations.

The coke producer reported third-quarter earnings per share of $0.26, significantly beating the analyst consensus estimate of $0.16. However, this represents a 27.78% decrease from the same period last year. Quarterly revenues came in at $487 million, surpassing the analyst consensus estimate of $349.3 million by 39.42%, though slightly down by 0.63% year-over-year. The company's adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $59.1 million.

Despite the strong quarterly performance, SunCoke's full-year outlook seems to have disappointed investors. The company expects fiscal year 2025 net income to be between $48-58 million, with adjusted EBITDA projected at $220-225 million. The adjusted free cash flow is anticipated to be in the range of $62-72 million. Additionally, SunCoke forecasts capital expenditures of $70 million for the year and expects domestic coke total production to be about 3.9 million tons. The market's negative reaction suggests that these projections may have fallen short of investor expectations, leading to the sell-off despite the earnings beat.