Agrochemical major FMC Corporation has sharply lowered its third-quarter 2026 expectations, forecasting revenue of just $65 million to $125 million and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $510 million to $565 million.
This, as the agricultural sciences company launches sweeping commercial actions to clear inventory and restore product demand.
The Philadelphia-based company said its revised outlook includes an estimated $625 million to $675 million impact from measures to reduce prices on select products held by channel customers and overhaul its selling and pricing model in the United States.
The actions target a growing challenge for FMC: distributors holding higher-priced products are reluctant to replenish stocks amid falling market prices and intensifying competition from generic products. The inventory overhang has slowed product movement to growers, further constraining demand.
“Third-quarter demand was weaker than we expected, driven by challenging market conditions and elevated levels of higher-priced FMC products held in inventory by certain channel customers, which are limiting product movement and replenishment demand,” said Pierre Brondeau, chairman, chief executive officer and president.
“We have addressed this issue incrementally over several quarters, but under current market conditions, we determined that more comprehensive actions are necessary.”
FMC will roll out two major commercial measures to accelerate the movement of its products through distribution channels and encourage customers to replenish stocks.
The first involves comprehensive price adjustments in Brazil, Argentina, the United States and Canada, targeting select products already held by channel customers.
The second is a restructuring of FMC's US selling and pricing model. The company has historically relied on high gross prices offset by substantial rebates. It now plans to narrow the gap between gross and net prices, simplify customer economics and bring its pricing structure closer to prevailing market conditions.
FMC said the measures are designed to remove a major obstacle to product movement from distributors to growers and support future replenishment demand.
The company said certain higher-priced products have become a particular burden for channel customers as rapid market price declines, partly driven by increased generic competition, have widened the gap between the value of existing inventory and current market prices.
Although FMC made significant progress in reducing channel inventory volumes in 2025, the remaining stock of select products continues to weigh on product movement and fresh orders.
FMC said it considers its current pricing competitive and expects ongoing manufacturing changes to provide further support.
Brondeau said the latest commercial measures, alongside the company's existing operational priorities, are expected to strengthen FMC's competitive position and advance its broader transformation.
"The actions we have taken under our 2026 operational priorities, combined with these critical commercial actions, are expected to significantly improve the company's overall competitiveness," said Brondeau.
"We believe removing this hurdle is an important step in completing the company's transformation and positioning FMC to operate at its full potential in 2027, 2028 and the long term."
