Revenue growth remains in a contractionary phase, evidenced by a 2.2% year-over-year decline in 2026Q1 and gross margins that have struggled to exceed 20.0% in the most recent quarter.
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 | Dec'17 | Dec'16 | Dec'15 | Dec'14 | Dec'13 | Dec'12 | Dec'11 | Dec'10 | Dec'09 | Dec'08 | Dec'07 | Dec'06 | Dec'05 | Dec'04 | Dec'03 | Dec'02 | Dec'01 |
|---|
| Sales/Revenue | 9.49B | 9.54B | 10.28B | 10.94B | 9.67B | 8.54B | 5.66B | 6.3B | 7.16B | 6.14B | 5.39B | 5.67B | 6.8B | 6.51B | 6.42B | 6.76B | 5.92B | 5.08B | 6.82B | 6.44B | 6.66B | 6.07B | 3.83B | 4.6B | 3.7B | 3.84B |
| Revenue Growth % | -5.63% | -7.16% | -6.03% | 13.1% | 13.31% | 50.96% | -10.2% | -11.99% | 16.53% | 13.94% | -5.02% | -16.58% | 4.49% | 1.43% | -5.1% | 14.28% | 16.45% | -25.52% | 5.88% | -3.19% | 9.65% | 58.65% | -16.88% | 24.27% | -3.47% | - |
| Cost of Goods Sold | 7.58B | 7.75B | 7.92B | 8.34B | 7.29B | 5.86B | 4.36B | 4.69B | 5.18B | 4.63B | 3.98B | 4.36B | 5.19B | 5.14B | 5.23B | 5.33B | 4.74B | 4.08B | 5.57B | 5B | 5.21B | 4.77B | 3.09B | 3.88B | 0 | 3.28B |
| COGS % of Revenue | - | 81.23% | 77.08% | 76.21% | 75.4% | 68.58% | 77.14% | 74.5% | 72.44% | 75.33% | 73.93% | 76.77% | 76.24% | 79.03% | 81.43% | 78.8% | 80.06% | 80.26% | 81.59% | 77.58% | 78.34% | 78.63% | 80.82% | 84.36% | - | 85.41% |
| Gross Profit | 1.91B | 1.79B | 2.36B | 2.6B | 2.38B | 2.68B | 1.29B | 1.61B | 1.97B | 1.51B | 1.41B | 1.32B | 1.62B | 1.36B | 1.19B | 1.43B | 1.18B | 1B | 1.26B | 1.45B | 1.44B | 1.3B | 734M | 720M | 3.7B | 560M |
| Gross Margin % | 20.09% | 18.77% | 22.92% | 23.79% | 24.6% | 31.42% | 22.86% | 25.5% | 27.56% | 24.67% | 26.07% | 23.23% | 23.76% | 20.97% | 18.57% | 21.2% | 19.94% | 19.74% | 18.41% | 22.42% | 21.66% | 21.37% | 19.18% | 15.64% | 100% | 14.59% |
| Gross Profit Growth % | - | -23.98% | -9.49% | 9.37% | -11.26% | 107.42% | -19.49% | -18.56% | 30.16% | 7.83% | 6.6% | -18.44% | 18.39% | 14.51% | -16.88% | 21.53% | 17.65% | -20.14% | -13.08% | 0.21% | 11.18% | 76.7% | 1.94% | -80.56% | 561.43% | - |
| Operating Expenses | 2.61B | 1.02B | 3.05B | 916M | 1B | 736M | 629M | 772M | 642M | 548M | 503M | 636M | 864M | 428M | 660M | 742M | 679M | 621M | 816M | 692M | 680M | 629M | 564M | 602M | -3.55B | 931M |
| OpEx % of Revenue | - | 10.73% | 29.7% | 8.37% | 10.36% | 8.62% | 11.12% | 12.26% | 8.97% | 8.93% | 9.33% | 11.21% | 12.7% | 6.57% | 10.28% | 10.97% | 11.47% | 12.22% | 11.96% | 10.74% | 10.22% | 10.36% | 14.74% | 13.08% | -95.87% | 24.26% |
| Selling, General & Admin | 893M | 899M | 1.03B | 1.07B | 824M | 633M | 482M | 483M | 546M | 456M | 416M | 506M | 758M | 311M | 507M | 536M | 505M | 469M | 540M | 516M | 538M | 562M | 498M | 510M | 0 | 481M |
| SG&A % of Revenue | - | 9.42% | 10.02% | 9.83% | 8.52% | 7.41% | 8.52% | 7.67% | 7.63% | 7.43% | 7.72% | 8.92% | 11.14% | 4.78% | 7.9% | 7.93% | 8.53% | 9.23% | 7.91% | 8.01% | 8.08% | 9.26% | 13.02% | 11.08% | - | 12.54% |
| Research & Development | 122M | 125M | 130M | 146M | 112M | 86M | 74M | 67M | 72M | 72M | 78M | 119M | 86M | 85M | 102M | 96M | 70M | 75M | 80M | 73M | 70M | 91M | 67M | 89M | 0 | 72M |
| R&D % of Revenue | - | 1.31% | 1.26% | 1.33% | 1.16% | 1.01% | 1.31% | 1.06% | 1.01% | 1.17% | 1.45% | 2.1% | 1.26% | 1.31% | 1.59% | 1.42% | 1.18% | 1.48% | 1.17% | 1.13% | 1.05% | 1.5% | 1.75% | 1.93% | - | 1.88% |
| Other Operating Expenses | 2M | 0 | 1.89B | -305M | 66M | 17M | 73M | 222M | -45M | -57M | -2M | -8M | 11M | -158M | -9M | 646M | 607M | 638M | 736M | 619M | 610M | 538M | 0 | 0 | -3.55B | 378M |
| Operating Income | -700M | 767M | -697M | 1.69B | 1.38B | 1.95B | 664M | 834M | 1.33B | 901M | 893M | 326M | 758M | 1.51B | 511M | 690M | 501M | 290M | 440M | 748M | 747M | 561M | 78M | 118M | 153M | -371M |
| Operating Margin % | -7.37% | 8.04% | -6.78% | 15.42% | 14.25% | 22.79% | 11.74% | 13.24% | 18.64% | 14.67% | 16.57% | 5.75% | 11.14% | 23.16% | 7.96% | 10.2% | 8.47% | 5.71% | 6.45% | 11.61% | 11.22% | 9.24% | 2.04% | 2.56% | 4.13% | -9.67% |
| Operating Income Growth % | - | 210.04% | -141.32% | 22.42% | -29.19% | 193.07% | -20.38% | -37.48% | 48.06% | 0.9% | 173.93% | -56.99% | -49.73% | 195.11% | -25.94% | 37.72% | 72.76% | -34.09% | -41.18% | 0.13% | 33.16% | 619.23% | -33.9% | -22.88% | 141.24% | - |
| EBITDA | 58M | 1.51B | 126M | 2.4B | 1.86B | 2.32B | 1.02B | 1.19B | 1.68B | 1.21B | 1.18B | 689M | 778M | 1.54B | 562M | 752M | 562M | 367M | 800M | 1.06B | 1.04B | 888M | 360M | 412M | 393M | -45M |
| EBITDA Margin % | 0.61% | 15.82% | 1.23% | 21.92% | 19.19% | 27.22% | 18.04% | 18.9% | 23.44% | 19.64% | 21.95% | 12.14% | 11.44% | 23.66% | 8.76% | 11.12% | 9.5% | 7.22% | 11.72% | 16.43% | 15.67% | 14.63% | 9.41% | 8.95% | 10.61% | -1.17% |
| EBITDA Growth % | 20.83% | 1098.41% | -94.75% | 29.2% | -20.14% | 127.84% | -14.29% | -29.04% | 39.05% | 1.94% | 71.7% | -11.44% | -49.48% | 174.02% | -25.27% | 33.81% | 53.13% | -54.13% | -24.46% | 1.53% | 17.46% | 146.67% | -12.62% | 4.83% | 973.33% | - |
| D&A (Non-Cash Add-back) | 758M | 743M | 823M | 711M | 478M | 378M | 356M | 356M | 343M | 305M | 290M | 363M | 20M | 32M | 51M | 62M | 61M | 77M | 360M | 311M | 296M | 327M | 282M | 294M | 240M | 326M |
| EBIT | -430M | -451M | -320M | 1.9B | 1.83B | 2.34B | 2.36B | 1.1B | 1.64B | 1.2B | 1.16B | 607M | 1.09B | 1.78B | 506M | 688M | 742M | 458M | 695M | 753M | 620M | 486M | 170M | 4.45B | 3.7B | -371M |
| Net Interest Income | -722M | -745M | -643M | -681M | -336M | -92M | -103M | -113M | -120M | -120M | -124M | -118M | -168M | -172M | -166M | -221M | -213M | -199M | -230M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Interest Income | 29M | 24M | 33M | 39M | 69M | 8M | 6M | 6M | 6M | 2M | 2M | 1M | 1M | 0 | 2M | 0 | 7M | 8M | 31M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Interest Expense | 751M | 769M | 676M | 720M | 405M | 100M | 109M | 119M | 125M | 122M | 126M | 119M | 169M | 172M | 168M | 221M | 204M | 207M | 261M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Income/Expense | -430M | -1.99B | -299M | -504M | 43M | 302M | 1.59B | 154M | 176M | 218M | 96M | 162M | 183M | 101M | 146M | 65M | 35M | -49M | -6M | -301M | -83M | -210M | -340M | 54M | 7M | -7M |
| Pretax Income | -1.13B | -1.22B | -996M | 1.18B | 1.42B | 2.25B | 2.25B | 988M | 1.51B | 1.07B | 1.03B | 488M | 941M | 1.61B | 657M | 755M | 536M | 241M | 434M | 447M | 664M | 362M | -174M | 203M | 160M | -378M |
| Pretax Margin % | -11.9% | -12.78% | -9.69% | 10.81% | 14.69% | 26.33% | 39.81% | 15.69% | 21.1% | 17.51% | 19.11% | 8.6% | 13.83% | 24.72% | 10.24% | 11.16% | 9.06% | 4.74% | 6.36% | 6.94% | 9.98% | 5.96% | -4.55% | 4.41% | 4.32% | -9.85% |
| Income Tax | -132M | -90M | 510M | -790M | -489M | 330M | 247M | 124M | 292M | 213M | 122M | 201M | 314M | 508M | 48M | 149M | 112M | -243M | 63M | 110M | 253M | 57M | 70M | 60M | 3.54B | -97M |
| Effective Tax Rate % | 11.68% | 7.38% | -51.2% | -66.78% | -34.41% | 14.68% | 10.97% | 12.55% | 19.34% | 19.81% | 11.84% | 41.19% | 33.37% | 31.57% | 7.31% | 19.74% | 20.9% | -100.83% | 14.52% | 24.61% | 38.1% | 15.75% | -40.23% | 29.56% | 2214.38% | 25.66% |
| Net Income | -1.02B | -1.17B | -1.52B | 1.96B | 1.89B | 1.89B | 1.99B | 852M | 1.21B | 843M | 900M | 304M | 624M | 1.1B | 605M | 607M | 375M | 488M | 282M | 426M | 406M | 277M | -253M | 148M | 168M | -365M |
| Net Margin % | -10.79% | -12.21% | -14.81% | 17.92% | 19.58% | 22.14% | 35.1% | 13.53% | 16.87% | 13.73% | 16.7% | 5.36% | 9.17% | 16.91% | 9.43% | 8.98% | 6.34% | 9.6% | 4.13% | 6.61% | 6.1% | 4.56% | -6.61% | 3.22% | 4.54% | -9.51% |
| Net Income Growth % | 38.46% | 23.46% | -177.65% | 3.48% | 0.21% | -4.79% | 132.98% | -29.41% | 43.18% | -6.33% | 196.05% | -51.28% | -43.32% | 81.98% | -0.33% | 61.87% | -23.16% | 73.05% | -33.8% | 4.93% | 46.57% | 209.49% | -270.95% | -11.9% | 146.03% | - |
| Net Income (Continuing) | -998M | -1.13B | -1.51B | 1.97B | 1.91B | 1.92B | 2B | 864M | 1.22B | 862M | 908M | 287M | 627M | 1.1B | 609M | 606M | 426M | 484M | 371M | 337M | 411M | 313M | -252M | 127M | 107M | -281M |
| Discontinued Operations | -2M | -21M | -8M | -9M | -8M | -22M | -12M | -6M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1M | 0 | 4M | 0 | -1M | -92M | 1M | 30M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minority Interest | 422M | 423M | 434M | 461M | 468M | 348M | 369M | 391M | 395M | 412M | 433M | 451M | 260M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2M | 5M | 74M | 64M | 518M | 18M | 0 | 0 |
| EPS (Diluted) | -9.31 | -10.64 | -13.93 | 17.92 | 17.34 | 16.86 | 16.75 | 6.84 | 8.91 | 6.09 | 6.18 | 2.00 | 4.00 | 6.91 | 3.79 | 3.82 | 2.37 | 3.11 | 1.73 | 2.49 | 2.36 | 1.67 | -2.91 | 2.57 | 2.44 | -7.25 |
| EPS Growth % | 34.23% | 23.62% | -177.73% | 3.34% | 2.85% | 0.66% | 144.88% | -23.23% | 46.31% | -1.46% | 209% | -50% | -42.11% | 82.32% | -0.79% | 61.18% | -23.79% | 79.77% | -30.52% | 5.51% | 41.32% | 157.39% | -213.23% | 5.33% | 133.66% | - |
| EPS (Basic) | - | -10.64 | -13.93 | 18.01 | 17.48 | 16.99 | 16.85 | 6.88 | 8.99 | 6.11 | 6.21 | 2.02 | 4.03 | 6.93 | 3.82 | 3.89 | 2.41 | 3.33 | 1.83 | 2.69 | 2.50 | 1.73 | -2.91 | 2.57 | 2.44 | -7.25 |
| Diluted Shares Outstanding | 110M | 109.5M | 109.27M | 109.38M | 109.24M | 112.08M | 118.48M | 124.65M | 135.4M | 138.3M | 145.67M | 152.29M | 156.2M | 159.3M | 159.8M | 158.9M | 158.4M | 157.1M | 163.47M | 171.23M | 171.81M | 166.2M | 86.96M | 57.59M | 68.85M | 50.33M |
| Basic Shares Outstanding | 109.7M | 109.5M | 109.27M | 108.85M | 108.38M | 111.22M | 117.8M | 123.93M | 134.3M | 137.9M | 144.94M | 150.84M | 155M | 158.8M | 158.3M | 156.2M | 154.6M | 143.7M | 148.35M | 154.48M | 158.6M | 154.4M | 86.86M | 57.59M | 68.85M | 50.33M |
| Dividend Payout Ratio | - | - | - | 15.56% | 15.68% | 16.08% | 14.76% | 35.21% | 23.2% | 28.59% | 22.33% | 57.24% | 23.08% | 7.54% | 7.11% | 5.6% | 7.47% | 4.71% | 8.51% | 8.22% | - | 290.25% | - | 16.89% | - | - |
High leverage and cyclicality
According to the provided quarterly income statements, Celanese has experienced a consistent decline in top-line performance, with revenue contracting by 2.2% in 2026Q1, marking a multi-quarter trend of negative year-over-year growth that highlights the company's sensitivity to broader industrial production slowdowns and global chemical demand.
The persistent revenue decay suggests that the company is struggling to offset volume declines with pricing actions in its core Acetyl Chain segment. Investors should monitor whether this contraction is a structural shift in end-market demand or merely a cyclical trough exacerbated by the current global destocking environment.
As reported in financial statements, the company's gross margin has fluctuated between 17.4% and 24.2% over the last ten quarters, with the most recent 2026Q1 figure of 20.0% indicating that the firm is currently unable to sustain the higher margin levels observed in early 2024.
This margin volatility appears to reflect the company's high exposure to volatile feedstock costs like methanol and natural gas. The inability to maintain gross margins above 20% consistently suggests that competitive pricing pressures in the commodity chemical space may be limiting the firm's ability to pass through input cost inflation.
Based on the provided income statement data, net income has exhibited extreme volatility, swinging from a $698 million profit in 2023Q4 to a $1.9 billion loss in 2024Q4, which suggests that headline earnings are heavily distorted by non-recurring charges and significant acquisition-related accounting adjustments.
The massive swings in net income, particularly the deep losses in late 2024 and 2025, indicate that the integration of recent large-scale acquisitions is creating significant noise in the bottom line. Analysts should look past these headline figures to assess the underlying cash-generating capacity of the core business segments.
Data from recent filings indicates that SG&A expenses have remained relatively sticky, hovering around $220 million to $270 million per quarter, even as revenue has declined, which suggests that management has yet to fully align its overhead structure with the current lower-volume operating environment.
The lack of significant reduction in SG&A costs during periods of revenue contraction may indicate limited operational flexibility or the presence of fixed costs associated with the recent integration of the M&M business. This cost rigidity warrants further investigation into management's ability to execute meaningful restructuring programs.
While the company maintains a dominant position in the acetyls market, the income statement data reveals a concerning trend of operating losses in multiple recent quarters, which, when combined with high debt levels, suggests that the firm's financial flexibility may be significantly more constrained than previously anticipated.
Short-sellers would likely focus on the potential for continued margin compression and the risk that the company's debt-heavy capital structure could become unsustainable if industrial demand does not recover rapidly. The discrepancy between reported debt metrics and the reality of the M&M acquisition costs remains a critical area of concern for fundamental stability.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying CE stock.
For fiscal year 2025, Celanese Corporation (CE) reported total revenue of $9.54B. This represents a 148.7% increase compared to $3.84B in 2001.
Celanese Corporation (CE) reported a net loss of $1.17B for the fiscal year ending 2025.
Celanese Corporation (CE) reported an operating income of $767.0M, resulting in an operating profit margin of 8.0%. This margin reflects the operational efficiency of the business before interest and taxes.
Celanese Corporation (CE) generated $1.79B in gross profit for the year, representing a gross profit margin of 18.8%. This demonstrates the company's core pricing power and production efficiency.