From potash to lithium and iodine, Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM) makes many useful products that other businesses rely on. Let’s take an early look at what’s been happening with Sociedad Quimica y Minera over the past quarter and what we’re likely to see in its quarterly report.
Stats on Sociedad Quimica y Minera
| Analyst EPS Estimate | $0.60 |
| Change From Year-Ago EPS | 5.3% |
| Revenue Estimate | $560.84 million |
| Change From Year-Ago Revenue | 5.9% |
| Earnings Beats in Past 4 Quarters | 1 |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
Will Sociedad Quimica y Minera bounce back this quarter?
In recent months, analysts have gotten less optimistic about SQM’s prospects, marking down their March-quarter estimates by $0.08 per share and cutting more than $0.20 per share from their 2013 and 2014 full-year consensus figures. The stock has reacted badly, falling almost 12% since late February.
Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM) has put up fairly strong numbers recently. Back in March, the company reported a 19% gain in net profits for the full 2012 year compared to 2011, with higher gross margins for the year. CEO Patricio Contesse pointed to strength in potassium, lithium, and its industrial chemicals lines, as well as better margins in its iodine-production business.
Yet even with those sizable gains, Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM) has faced large macroeconomic challenges. The financial crisis in Europe has hurt its business, with the company citing the weakness in European markets as having an impact on SQM’s prospecst. Moreover, as a producer of potash-based fertilizers, the company has suffered from weak fertilizer prices. That’s consistent with what we’ve seen from North American giants Potash Corp./Saskatchewan (USA) (NYSE:POT) and Mosaic Co (NYSE:MOS), both of which have struggled from competition from cheaper nitrogen-based fertilizer producers have that capitalized on extremely cheap natural-gas input prices to offer their products at a much more competitive price.
Arguably, the biggest prospect SQM has is its lithium business, given the huge demand for lithium-ion batteries in recent years. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has seen its Model S electric-vehicle surge in popularity, and Tesla could finally be the catalyst that leads to a sharp jump in the number of electric vehicles produced. That in turn could create the growth in demand that Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM) and other lithium producers need in order to reverse their recent share-price weakness.
In SQM’s report, look closely at how the company does both domestically and internationally. By pinpointing geographical areas of strength and weakness, you should be able to get clues to guide you not just about SQM but about the state of the industrial economy worldwide.
The article What’s Making 1 Promising Chemical Stock React Badly originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Dan Caplinger.
Fool contributor Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow him on Twitter: @DanCaplinger. The Motley Fool recommends Sociedad Quimica y Minera and Tesla Motors and owns shares of Tesla Motors.
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