Potash Earnings and Guidance Disappoint, but Shares Rebound

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Potash Corp. (POT) missed fourth quarter earnings expectations and is seeing continued fallout from strong supply and weak demand imbalance in the industry. But after the shares fell about 5% in pre-market trading, the stock is up about 1% in midday action.

The fertilizer giant posted 78 cents of EPS, 10 cents below analysts’ expectations. Potash also said it expects to earn 55 to 75 cents in the first quarter, below analysts’ expectations for 84 cents. But the company sees a pickup in demand for the rest of the year.

“The drag of global economic concerns shook the confidence of fertilizer buyers and caused a greater decline in fourth-quarter demand than we had anticipated,” said Chief Executive Officer Bill Doyle. “However, we believe these short-term challenges do not change the more powerful drivers of our business. The return on fertilizer investment continues to be attractive to farmers world-wide and is expected to result in greater demand in the quarters ahead.”



Original Article Source by Barrons.com