Nutrien Ltd (NYSE:NTR) stock rose over 5.5% on August 10th, 2021 ( as of 1:21:06 PM UTC-4 · USD ; Source: Google finance) after the company raised its full-year adjusted profit outlook, citing robust demand in the global crop and fertilizer markets. The crop prices continue to be supported by strong demand and less than expected supply, resulting in historically low global inventory and strong grower margins.
NTR in the second quarter of FY 21 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $2.08, missing the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $2.09. The company has delivered record adjusted EBITDA of $3.0 billion and free cash flow1 of $1.9 billion in the first half of 2021. This represents an increase of 36% and 40%, respectively, compared to the first half of 2020 and 17% and 12%, respectively higher than the previous record for the company in the first half of 2019. Nutrien Ag Solutions’ first-half adjusted EBITDA rose 24% compared to the same period in 2020 due to double-digit growth in revenue and gross margin, higher gross margin percentage and adjusted EBITDA margins surpassing 11 percent. The increase was mainly due to organic growth supported by strong demand for grains and oilseeds, continued growth in the proprietary product sales, optimization and efficiency initiatives, as well as, the ongoing commitment of the approximately 3,600 crop advisors to serve the grower customers.
NTR has also raised its full-year 2021 adjusted core EBITDA outlook to be between $6 billion and $6.4 billion, from $4.4 billion to $4.9 billion. The company has increased forecast due to higher expected results across business, as well as the benefits of increasing 2021 potash sales outlook by one million tonnes to address global demand. The company now expects potash sales to be between 13.5 million tonnes and 13.9 million tonnes. The global potash shipments are projected to reach a record 69 to 71 million tonnes in 2021, while inventory in key regions are expected to be historically low going into 2022. By the fourth quarter of 2021, the company expects to surge potash production to an annualized run-rate of approximately 17 million tonnes, due to the flexible mine network and the responsiveness of the dedicated employees.
The company now expects adjusted net earnings per share outlook to be between $4.60 and $5.10 for the year, from a prior forecast of $2.55 to $3.25. The analysts, on average, were expecting $3.93 per share for full-year 2021, according to Refinitiv IBES data.