Celanese Stock Dives 20% After Earnings Beat. What Has Wall Street Worried.

Celanese makes chemicals. Its shares were falling after the company posted second-quarter earnings. (Kim Willems/Dreamstime)

Celanese stock was tanking on Tuesday after the chemicals manufacturer said it was expecting demand to weaken in most of its key markets, overshadowing a second-quarter earnings beat.

Shares tumbled 20% to $37.81 in early trading. The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher.

The selloff came after Celanese reported adjusted earnings of $1.44 a share for the three months ended June 30, as sales climbed 6% from a year ago to $2.53 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.40 a share on sales of $2.53 billion, according to a FactSet poll.

Overshadowing the earnings beat was some rough guidance. Celanese expects third-quarter earnings of between $1.10 and $1.40 a share. The midpoint of those figures is way below the $1.68 a share analysts had been forecasting.

“In this low-demand environment that remains uncertain, we will continue to emphasize cash flow,” President and CEO Scott Richardson said.

It has been a rough year so far for the chemicals industry, with manufacturers battling an uptick in energy costs as well as weak demand in Europe. Celanese shares are down 31% in 2025, compared with an 8.4% rise for the S&P 500.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com