Chemours Stock Drops Then Pops. Here’s Why.

Chemours reported sales of $1.5 billion in the third quarter. (Dreamstime)

Key Points

• Chemours reported adjusted third-quarter earnings of 20 cents per share, missing Wall Street’s expectation of 25 cents per share.
• Titanium dioxide sales decreased by 9% to $612 million, with pricing down 8%, while refrigerant sales increased by 20% to $560 million.
• The company’s fourth-quarter sales outlook projects a 10% to 15% year-over-year drop, implying revenue of approximately $1.2 billion.

Sometimes growth in one business can’t overcome declines in another.

Thursday evening, chemical maker Chemours reported adjusted third-quarter earnings of 20 cents a share from sales of $1.5 billion. Wall Street was looking for 25 cents a share and $1.5 billion, respectively.

Chemours’ stock traded as low as $10.57 on Friday, then recovered to close at $12.51, up 6.6%, while the S&P 500 eked out a 0.1% gain and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.

The starting point might help explain the positive reaction to an earnings miss. Coming into Friday trading, Chemours’ shares were down 31% year to date.

Slowing sales of titanium dioxide, a key component of white paint, drove light earnings. The titanium segment’s sales fell 9% from a year earlier to $612 million, and pricing was down 8%, according to the company.

Refrigerant sales were a standout at $560 million, up 20% year over year. “Volume growth was driven by stronger demand for Opteon…in connection with the stationary air conditioning…transition under the U.S. AIM Act,” said the company.

The AIM Act is designed to reduce the use of hydrofluorocarbon-based refrigerants. Opteon is hydrofluoroolefin-based. It’s an HFO, not an HFC, and has a lower propensity to heat up the planet when released into the atmosphere.

The fourth-quarter outlook was also light. Management expects sales to drop 10% to 15% year over year, implying revenue of about $1.2 billion. Analysts are projecting $1.4 billion.

“We expect Opteon to drive the majority of sales in Q4 [the fourth quarter] and 2026,” wrote CFRA analyst Emily Nasseff Mitsch in a Thursday report, “while other segments face continued pressure from lower volumes and weak pricing dynamics.”

She rates shares Sell and has an $11 price target for the stock. Truist analyst Pete Osterland rates shares Buy and has a $21 price target for the stock. He acknowledged the problem of titanium dioxide weakness in his post-earnings report, but remains optimistic about the growth of the company’s refrigerant business.

Overall, 55% of analysts covering the stock rate shares Buy, according to FactSet. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%. The average analyst price target is about $17.50 a share.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com