Methanex Corporation MEOH reported fourth-quarter 2024 net income of $45 million or 67 cents per share, an increase from the prior-year quarter’s profits of $33 million or 50 cents per share.

Adjusted earnings per share rose to $1.24 from the year-ago quarter’s 52 cents. The figure surpassed the Zacks consensus estimate of $1.01.

Net sales in the quarter stood at $949 million, missing the Zacks consensus estimate of $1,023.7 million. However, the revenues displayed growth of roughly 3% from the previous year’s quarter results.

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Methanex Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Methanex Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Methanex Corporation Quote

MEOH’s Operational Highlights

Production in the quarter was 1,868,000 tons, up around 5% year over year. Production was driven by higher production in Chile, New Zealand, Geismar and Egypt. 

The sales volume for the reported quarter was 2,564,000 tons, down around 10% year over year. It was below our estimate of 2,727,000 tons. 
The average realized price per ton of methanol had increased from previous quarter’s $356 and the prior-year quarter’s $322 to $370. It beat our estimate of $368. The increase can be attributed to stable global demand on a backdrop of tight market conditions from lower supply compared to the previous quarter.

MEOH’s FY24 Results

Net sales for 2024 were $3,720 million, down from $3,723 million for the same period in 2023. Adjusted earnings for the full year were $3.72 per share, rising from $2.25 per share in 2023.

Methanex’s Financials

In 2024, MEOH returned $50 million to shareholders through regular dividends and the $300 million bond due in December was repaid with cash flows generated from operations. The fourth quarter saw an operating cash flow of $281 million. Methanex ended the year with $892 million in cash.

MEOH’s Outlook

The company’s production guidance for 2025 is approximately 7.5 million tons (Methanex interest), which excludes any additional production from OCI assets post-acquisition closing date. Actual production may vary quarterly based on gas availability, turnarounds, unplanned outages and unanticipated events.

In the first quarter of 2025, significantly higher adjusted EBITDA is expected compared to the fourth quarter, with produced sales expected to be near the production levels in the fourth quarter of 2024, and a higher average realized price. The expected average realized price range is between approximately $395 to $405 per tons for January and February.

MEOH Stock’s Price Performance

MEOH stock has gained 12.4% in the past year compared with the 0.3% decline in the industry.

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MEOH's Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

MEOH currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Ingevity Corporation NGVT, ICL Group Ltd. ICL and Fortuna Mining Corp. FSM. While NGVT sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), ICL and FSM carry a Zacks Rank #2 each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

NGVT is slated to report fourth-quarter results on Feb. 18. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ingevity’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 12 cents per share. NGVT beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, with the average earnings surprise being 95.4%. Its shares have gained 4.8% in the past year.

ICL is expected to report fourth-quarter results on Feb. 26. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ICL Group’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 6 cents per share. ICL beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 18.1%. Its shares have soared 29.9% in the past year.

FSM is expected to report fourth-quarter results on March 5. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Fortuna’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 16 cents per share. FSM surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters while missing it in the rest, with an average earnings surprise of 53.6%. The stock has gained 54.1% in the past year.



 

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