Eastman Chemical Company announced its first-quarter 2024 financial results. The company delivered strong sequential increase in sales volume/mix and earnings driven by reconnection to primary demand for many of our specialty products in Advanced Materials and Additives & Functional Products. It posted sales revenue of US$ 2,310 million in Q1 2024 compared to US$ 2,412 million in Q1 2023.

It also achieved on spec production and revenue generation at our Kingsport methanolysis facility. The company was selected by U.S. Department of Energy to receive up to $375 million investment for our second U.S. molecular recycling project in Longview, Texas.

“We delivered strong sequential earnings growth in the first quarter, above the high-end of our initial expectations,” said Mark Costa, Board Chair and CEO.

“In the first quarter, we were encouraged to see continued evidence that inventory destocking is complete across most of our key end markets including consumer durables, building and construction, and personal care. Sales volume/mix improved 4 percent sequentially as demand for our products appears to be reconnecting to primary end-market demand. We are also incredibly proud to have achieved on spec production and revenue generation at our Kingsport methanolysis facility. Achieving this milestone is a direct result of years of commitment and dedication from hundreds of Eastman employees and the support of their families. For their dedication, I am extraordinarily grateful. We have started 2024 with strong momentum. Demand in our base business is recovering, and we have solidified our position as a world leader in the circular economy. I am confident in our ability to deliver earnings growth and strong cash flow going forward.”

2024 Outlook

Commenting on the outlook for full-year 2024, Costa said: “We delivered strong first-quarter results that were above our expectations, reflecting both better than expected sales volume/mix and continued pricing discipline. We are encouraged to see continued evidence that customer inventory destocking is behind us across most of our key end markets. Looking forward to the remainder of the year, primary demand in key markets and geographies remains uncertain. However, we continue to benefit from our innovation-driven growth model that enables growth above our end markets. We also expect to benefit from revenue and earnings generated by our Kingsport methanolysis facility, mostly in the second half of the year. We expect continued pricing discipline and improving asset utilization throughout the year. Taking these drivers together, we continue to expect 2024 EPS to be between $7.25 and $8.00 and for 2024 cash from operations to be approximately $1.4 billion.”

The full-year 2024 projected adjusted diluted EPS and Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (“EBITDA”) exclude any non-core, unusual, or nonrecurring items. Our financial results forecasts do not include non-core items (such as mark-to-market pension and other postretirement benefit gain or loss, and asset impairments and restructuring charges) or any unusual or non-recurring items because we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty the financial impact of such items. These items are uncertain and depend on various factors, and we are unable to reconcile projected adjusted diluted EPS and EBITDA excluding non-core and any unusual or non-recurring items to reported GAAP diluted EPS or net earnings without unreasonable efforts.