What happened
Shares of renewable energy play and lithium metals miner Livent Corporation (LTHM) are tumbling today, down 10.5% as of 11 a.m. EST -- and Livent has only itself to blame.
This morning, Livent issued "revised 2019 guidance" that predicted it will wrap up the year with lower revenues and weaker profits than previously forecast.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
So how bad is this news, exactly? Previously Livent told investors to expect that in fiscal Q4 2019, it would earn between $0.08 and $0.11 per share (pro forma) on revenue of between $90 million and $100 million.
In its new forecast, however, Livent warns that Q4 sales will range from only $75 million to $80 million, with "adjusted" earnings per share of $0.04 to $0.06 -- roughly half what it expected.
The company further lowered full-year forecasts to $385 million to $390 million (sales) and $0.40 to $0.42 per share (pro forma earnings).
Now what
Livent further warned that "lower pricing is expected to continue through 2020, with average realized price for lithium hydroxide in 2020 anticipated to be low-to-mid-teens percent lower than 2019." Accordingly, the company is guiding for "2020 Adjusted EBITDA to be lower than 2019."
Simply put: Things look bad for Q4 2019 already...and they're looking even worse for next year.
