FMC Shares Gain 14% in 6 Months: What's Driving the Stock?

FMC Corporation’s FMC shares have gained 14.1% over the past six months. The company has also outperformed its industry’s rise of 2.6% over the same time frame. FMC has also topped the S&P 500’s roughly 9.7% rise over the same period.Let’s take a look into the factors that are driving this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research What’s Working in FMC’s Favor?FMC delivered forecast-topping results in the second quarter on the back of higher volumes. Adjusted earnings per share of 63 cents trounced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 50 cents. Revenues rose around 2% from the year-ago quarter’s levels to $1,038.4 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $995.3 million. FMC saw improved demand during the quarter, leading to an increase in sales volumes, especially in the United States and Brazil.The company is gaining from efforts to expand its product portfolio through new product launches and restructuring actions. It is investing in technologies as well as new product launches to enhance value to the farmers. New products launched in Europe, North America and Asia are gaining significant traction. Product introductions are expected to support the company’s results this year. FMC generated $590 million in sales in 2023 from new products launched in the past five years. It expects revenues from new products to grow by roughly $200 million in 2024. It expects a significant amount of volume growth to come from new products in the second half of 2024. FMC is seeing strong gains in new products including Coragen eVo and Premio Star insecticides and the Onsuva fungicide in Latin America.The acquisition of BioPhero ApS, a Denmark-based pheromone research and production company, also adds biologically produced state-of-the-art pheromone insect control technology to the company’s product portfolio and R&D pipeline, highlighting FMC's role as a leader in delivering innovative and sustainable crop protection solutions.The company is also expected to benefit from reduced input costs, a favorable product mix and its cost-control actions. It benefited from favorable input costs in the second quarter of 2024. FMC is also making progress with its global restructuring and cost-reduction program. It sees benefits from restructuring to contribute $75-$100 million to full-year 2024 adjusted EBITDA, net of inflation.FMC Corporation Price and Consensus  FMC Corporation price-consensus-chart | FMC Corporation Quote Stocks to ConsiderBetter-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Newmont Corporation NEM, Element Solutions Inc ESI and Eldorado Gold Corporation EGO, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Newmont’s current-year earnings is pegged at $2.82, indicating a rise of 75.2% from year-ago levels. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NEM’s earnings has increased 16% in the past 60 days. The stock has rallied around 35% in the past year. The consensus estimate for Element Solutions’ current-year earnings has increased by 0.7% in the past 60 days. ESI beat the consensus estimate in three of the last four quarters while delivering in-line results on the other occasion. In this timeframe, it delivered an earnings surprise of around 3.8%, on average.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Eldorado Gold’s current year earnings is pegged at $1.35 per share, indicating a year-over-year rise of 136.8%. EGO beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 430.3%. The company's shares have rallied roughly 81% in the past year.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Element Solutions Inc. (ESI): Free Stock Analysis Report Newmont Corporation (NEM): Free Stock Analysis Report FMC Corporation (FMC): Free Stock Analysis Report Eldorado Gold Corporation (EGO): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks