Celanese Corporation's stock surged 5.20% in after-hours trading following the release of its fourth-quarter earnings report and first-quarter outlook.
The specialty materials company reported Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.67 per diluted share, falling short of the $0.91 consensus estimate from analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue for the quarter also declined to $2.2 billion from $2.36 billion a year earlier, missing the $2.25 billion expectation.
Despite the Q4 miss, investors reacted positively to the company's guidance for the current quarter. Celanese expects Q1 adjusted EPS in the range of $0.70 to $0.85, compared to analyst projections of $0.89. The after-hours movement suggests traders may be focusing on the forward-looking guidance rather than the quarterly miss.