Earnings collapse sends shares soaring. LyondellBasell Industries NV reported a loss of $0.26 per share for Q4 2025, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by 205.0%. The specialty chemicals maker posted a net loss of $79 million on revenue of $7.09 billion. Despite the miss, shares surged 10.3% to $74.33 on volume of 13.3 million shares, suggesting investors anticipated worse results or are positioning for a cyclical recovery.
Margins compressed sharply. Gross profit of $2.58 billion on revenue of $7.09 billion translates to a gross margin of 36.4%. Operating income of $831 million yielded an operating margin of 11.7%, while EBITDA reached $1.16 billion for a 16.4% EBITDA margin. The quarter marks a sharp reversal from Q3 2025’s $1.01 per share profit, which beat estimates by 25.9% on revenue of $7.73 billion. Sequential revenue declined 8.2% from Q3’s $7.73 billion to Q4’s $7.09 billion, reflecting weaker demand across petrochemical end markets.
Balance sheet remains solid. LyondellBasell held $3.44 billion in cash against $14.64 billion in total debt, with total assets of $34.00 billion and stockholders’ equity of $10.08 billion. The company generated $1.51 billion in operating cash flow and $1.06 billion in free cash flow during the quarter, while paying $443 million in dividends. Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with 11 of 19 analysts rating the stock a Hold, 5 rating it a Buy or Strong Buy, and 3 rating it a Sell.
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