Celanese Corporation

Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE) produces engineered materials used in products such as vehicles, medical devices and electronics, and acetyl chemicals used in industrial and consumer applications. It prioritizes debt reduction after borrowing to fund its purchase of DuPont's Mobility & Materials business.

Third-quarter results

The table compares the three months ended September 30. Amounts are USD millions, except per-share figures.

Last year's GAAP loss included $1.486 billion of asset impairments. Adjusted earnings remove selected shutdown, acquisition, legal and other items and apply an adjusted tax rate. They retain acquisition-related intangible amortization expense, approximately $0.36 a share before tax in Q3.

Celanese's free cash flow deducts capital spending and distributions to outside joint venture owners from operating cash flow. Q3 included $8 million of those distributions. For the first nine months, operating cash of $823 million less $197 million of capital spending and $22 million of joint venture distributions produced $604 million of free cash flow.

Cash timing and earlier expectations

Working capital provided $184 million of cash in Q3, with lower receivables a key driver, according to management. Q2 operating cash flow was $209 million and free cash flow was $140 million. Management expects Q3 to be the highest cash-generation quarter of the year, as it was in 2025.

Adjusted EPS of $1.65 was within August's $1.35 to $1.75 range. The annual adjusted EPS forecast is now $6.00 to $6.25, compared with approximately $6.00 in August. For annual free cash flow, Celanese raised the forecast floor to $750 million from $700 million, with the ceiling unchanged at $800 million.

Annual capital spending remains forecast at $300 million to $350 million.

Debt and funding

At September 30, total reported debt was $11.545 billion, versus $12.007 billion in June. Net debt after cash was $10.183 billion, down from $10.643 billion. Cash and cash equivalents were $1.362 billion, versus $1.364 billion.

Net debt was 4.9 times trailing 12-month operating EBITDA, with a year-end target of approximately 4.7 times. That adjusted earnings measure removes interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and selected other items.

The company reports that its 2026 maturities have been fully repaid. It expects excess cash at year-end to cover approximately $1.1 billion of bonds maturing in 2027. An undrawn $1.75 billion revolver provides additional borrowing capacity.

Completed sales and pending transactions

Celanese sold Micromax to Element Solutions on February 2, 2026 for $493 million, subject to transaction adjustments.

The additional sale of a 19% interest in Nutrinova to Mitsui remains pending, with closing expected in Q4. The agreed cash proceeds are approximately $152 million; Celanese would retain an 11% interest after closing.

Business mix and operations

Engineered Materials revenue was $1.368 billion, versus $1.384 billion a year earlier. The Micromax divestiture reduced that comparison by six percentage points. Excluding the sold business, Celanese reported sales growth of 5%. Acetyl Chain revenue increased to $1.209 billion from $1.061 billion.

Celanese completed the closure of its acetate tow plant in Lanaken, Belgium, during Q3, following its earlier plan to cease operations in the second half of 2026.

The company is expanding European specialty compounding, commissioning an Asian liquid crystal polymer facility and advancing Asian medical-grade compounding capacity. It expects all three projects to commercialize in the first half of 2027.