FMC Corporation FMC is set to release first-quarter 2025 results after the closing bell on April 30.

The company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters. On average, FMC has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of around 20.2%. The company reported an earnings surprise of 11.1% in the last reported quarter.

FMC is likely to have faced challenges from de-stocking and pricing pressures in the first quarter. The company's cost actions and new product launches are expected to have contributed to its performance.

FMC’s shares have lost 29.5% in the past year compared with the Zacks Agriculture – Operations industry’s 6.7% decline.

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Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

What Our Model Unveils for FMC Stock

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for FMC this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP  and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earning beat.

Earnings ESP: Earnings ESP for FMC is +34.04%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the first quarter is currently pegged at 8 cents. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: FMC currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

(Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

What Do FMC’s Revenue Estimates Say?

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter sales for FMC is currently pegged at $779 million, suggesting a 15.1% year-over-year decline.

The consensus estimate for North America’s revenues is currently pegged at $224.2 million, suggesting a 13.4% year-over-year decline.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Latin America sales is pegged at $137.9 million, indicating a 26.6% year-over-year decrease.

The consensus estimates for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) sales are pegged at $278.5 million, calling for a 9.2% year-over-year decline.

The same for Asia is pinned at $144.8 million, indicating a 11.8% decline on a year-over-year basis.

Factors at Play for FMC Stock

FMC is expected to have gained from efforts to expand its product portfolio through new product launches and restructuring actions in the first quarter. FMC is committed to strengthening its product portfolio by investing in new technologies and launching new products, which are gaining significant traction in Europe, North America and Asia. These initiatives are expected to have supported the company's results.  The company is seeing strong performance of its growth portfolio, including Cyazypyr active and new active ingredients fluindapyr and Isoflex Active, which are generating higher sales. 

FMC is also expected to have benefited from reduced input costs, a favorable product mix and cost-control actions. It is making progress with its global restructuring and cost-reduction program. It saw benefits from restructuring of $165 million on full-year 2024 adjusted EBITDA, with more than $225 million run rate savings expected by the end of 2025. The benefits of restructuring actions are expected to be reflected in the company's margins in the quarter to be reported.

The company is likely to have faced headwinds from inventory de-stocking. Continued active inventory management is expected to have weighed on its volumes. The company is seeing channel de-stocking in India and Latin America. FMC projects revenues for the first quarter to be in the $750-$800 million range, indicating a 16% decrease at the midpoint from the same period in 2024. Volume is projected to fall as customers in various countries continue to cut inventories and retailers and growers make cautious purchases in an environment of low commodity prices.

Weaker prices are also likely to weigh on the company’s revenues in the first quarter. It faced headwinds from weaker prices in the fourth quarter. The pricing headwind is expected to have continued in the first quarter. FMC sees mid-to-high-single digit price decline in the first quarter mainly due to the price adjustments for diamide partner contracts.

FMC Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

FMC Corporation price-eps-surprise | FMC Corporation Quote

Basic Materials Stocks That Warrant a Look

Here are some companies in the basic materials space you may want to consider as our model shows they too have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. CF, scheduled to release earnings on May 7, has an Earnings ESP of +3.67% and carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The consensus estimate for CF’s earnings for the first quarter is currently pegged at $1.47.

ATI Inc. ATI, slated to release earnings on May 1, has an Earnings ESP of +2.46% and carries a Zacks Rank #3 at present.

The consensus mark for ATI’s first-quarter earnings is currently pegged at 58 cents.

Kinross Gold Corporation KGC, scheduled to release earnings on May 6, has an Earnings ESP of +11.07%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Kinross Gold's earnings for the first quarter is currently pegged at 22 cents. KGC currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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