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Here's Why You Should Hold Onto Chemours (CC) Stock for Now

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The Chemours Company (CC - Free Report) is benefiting from higher demand for its Opteon refrigerants, strong execution, higher pricing and cost-cutting measures amid headwinds from raw material cost inflation and ore constraints.

The company’s shares are down 18.2% over a year, compared with a 13.2% decline recorded by its industry.



Let’s find out why this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock is worth retaining at the moment.

 

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What’s Favoring CC?

Chemours is gaining from a rebound in demand from the coronavirus-induced downturn, strong execution and its cost-reduction and pricing actions. The company is seeing demand revival across its end markets and regions on the global macroeconomic recovery.

The company’s Thermal & Specialized Solutions segment is benefiting from strong demand in refrigerants across most regions. It is also witnessing strong adoption of the Opteon platform, which is supporting volumes in this segment. Chemours remains committed toward driving Opteon adoption. Prices in the Titanium Technologies division are also being driven by strong demand for Ti-Pure pigment.

Chemours is also gaining from its efforts to reduce costs. Its cost-reduction program along with its productivity and operational improvement actions across its businesses are expected to support its margins in 2022. It is also taking appropriate pricing measures to counter higher costs.

The company also remains focused on boosting its cash flows and returning value to shareholders. Its cash provided by operating activities was $291 million for the second quarter, up around 14% year over year. The company repurchased $128 million of common stock during the quarter, resulting in total share repurchases of $272 million in the first half of 2022.

A Few Headwinds

Chemours is exposed to headwinds from global logistics and supply-chain issues. It is being challenged by raw material cost inflation due to supply constraints. Supply-chain challenges and raw material availability issues are likely to continue moving ahead. Headwinds from raw material, logistics and energy costs are likely to persist in the remainder of 2022.

The company’s Titanium Technologies unit also faces challenges from ore supply issues. Volumes from this segment fell 8% year over year in the last reported quarter due to ore logistics constraints. Ore supply challenges are expected to continue to impact volumes in third-quarter 2022.

Stocks to Consider

Better-ranked stocks worth considering in the basic materials space include Livent Corporation , Albemarle Corporation (ALB - Free Report) and Innospec Inc. (IOSP - Free Report) .

Livent, currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), has a projected earnings growth rate of 667% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LTHM’s current-year earnings has been revised 9.5% upward in the past 60 days. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Livent’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters, the average being 15.7%. LTHM has gained around 31% in a year.

Albemarle, sporting a Zacks Rank #1, has a projected earnings growth rate of 425.3% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALB's current-year earnings has been revised 63.7% upward in the past 60 days.

Albemarle’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 24.2%, on average. ALB has gained around 22% in a year.

Innospec, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has an expected earnings growth rate of 23.5% for the current year. The consensus estimate for IOSP's earnings for the current year has been revised 6.1% upward in the past 60 days.

Innospec’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 20%. IOSP has gained around 2% over a year.


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