OK, now I get it. Rohm & Haas (NYSE:ROH) seems frequently conservative (if not slightly dour) with its guidance. Yet -- recently, at least -- it still manages to surpass that guidance. What's more, there might still be a chance here to nail some bear pelts to the wall.

Since the company preannounced guidance, there were few surprises in the earnings report itself. Revenue was up 3%, but gross margins expanded a full point, and operating margins expanded even more. That drove better-than-13% growth in operating income, while lower interest expenses, taxes, and unusual expenses drove a 30% improvement in reported net income.

There are a lot of moving parts here, so I won't be talking about all of them. Instead, I'll focus mostly on the monomers and electronic-materials businesses. The monomers business seems to have some folks worried these days -- mostly of the threat of added capacity in the acrylic/acrylate markets. And it's true that revenue was down a little this quarter. But here's the thing -- the majority of sales in this business go to other Rohm and Haas units, so lower prices here just mean better margins in businesses like coatings and performance chemicals.

Electronic materials are unquestionably strong. Revenue was up 24%, and reported earnings doubled on strength in both semiconductors and packaging/finishing technologies. And while this business is obviously sensitive to changing technologies, Rohm and Haas has kept pace with the likes of Cabot Microelectronics (NASDAQ:CCMP).

There's no shortage of stock ideas playing into the chemicals industry -- whether you're talking broadly diversified companies like DuPont (NYSE:DD) and Dow (NASDAQ:DOW) or more specialized players like Cytec (NYSE:CYT) and Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW). Though it's wise to keep an eye on energy costs and remember that these companies often make for questionable long-term holdings, I wouldn't break off a relationship with Rohm and Haas just yet.

For more chemical-loaded Foolishness:

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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).