CE
Celanese Corporation
CE's fundamentals are strong, but it looks expensive: trading at 22x earnings, more than twice its usual 8.3x. Analysts expect earnings growth, though they disagree widely on how much.
CE Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Weak |
CE's revenue and profitability are currently healthy, and its cash flow is stable, but its balance sheet is weak.
CE PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 6.8x | $15.87 | -69% |
| Fair | 8.2x | $19.20 | -63% |
| Forward | 8.3x | $51.26 | — |
| Expensive | 15x | $33.79 | -34% |
| Current | 22x | $51.26 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
CE's PE is in its expensive range at 22x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 8.3x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
CE Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect CE's earnings to grow, with its revenue and profitability holding steady. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
CE Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $6.21 | +166% |
| Q3 2026 | $2.33 | +$30.60 |
| Q2 2026 | -$10.73 | +$4.09 |
| Q1 2026 | -$10.05 | +$5.17 |
| Q4 2025 | -$10.64 | +$3.29 |
| Q3 2025 | -$28.27 | -384% |
| Q2 2025 | -$14.82 | -184% |
| Q1 2025 | -$15.22 | -184% |
| Q4 2024 | -$13.93 | -178% |
CE has returned to profit: it earned $2.33 per share over the past year, after losing money the year before.
CE Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.6B | +5.7% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.8B | +8.7% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.3B | -2.2% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.2B | -7% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.4B | -8.6% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.5B | -4.5% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.4B | -8.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.4B | -7.7% |
CE's revenue grew through 2024 and has held roughly level since: $2.6B last quarter, up 5.7% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 7.8% | +61 points |
| Q2 2026 | 10% | +0.8 points |
| Q1 2026 | 9.2% | +2.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 4.2% | +64 points |
| Q3 2025 | -53% | -62 points |
| Q2 2025 | 9.2% | -0.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 7% | -1 points |
| Q4 2024 | -59% | -69 points |
CE's operating margin was 7.8% last quarter, up 60 points from the same quarter a year ago.
CE Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $469M | +22% |
| Q2 2026 | $147M | -54% |
| Q1 2026 | $10M | +$75M |
| Q4 2025 | $168M | -57% |
| Q3 2025 | $383M | +$392M |
| Q2 2025 | $317M | +70% |
| Q1 2025 | -$65M | -$29M |
| Q4 2024 | $389M | -45% |
CE still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2023 peak: $794M over the past year.
CE Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | -48.7K shares |
| 1 year | +0.6% | +635K shares |
| 3 years | +0.7% | +761K shares |
| 5 years | -0.8% | -844K shares |
| Available history | -12% | -14.5M shares |
CE has 110M diluted shares, up 0.6% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2023 | — |
| Q3 2023 | — |
| Q2 2023 | — |
| Q1 2023 | — |
| Q4 2022 | — |
| Q3 2022 | — |
| Q2 2022 | — |
| Q1 2022 | $17M |
CE Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 6.2x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 74.4x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 234.7x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 5,884.0x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 563.5x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 111.7x | High |
| Q3 2024 | 6.8x | High |
| Q2 2024 | 5.1x | High |
CE's net debt is about 6.2 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from more than 20 years a year ago.
CE Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 55.3 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 78.3 | Neutral |
CE's weekly RSI is 55 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 78 (neutral).
CE PE vs Basic Materials Sector
| Metric | CE | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 22x | 19x | 18% above |
| PE % | 94 | 40 | 54 pts above |
CE is trading at 22x earnings, a 18% premium to the Basic Materials sector's median of 19x.
CE Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $47.3 | 8.3% above |
| 20 week MA | $46.4 | 11% above |
| 50 week MA | $50.3 | 1.8% above |
| 100 week MA | $51.3 | 0% above |
| 200 week MA | $89.5 | 43% below |
CE has bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8-, 20- and 50-week averages, but 43% below its 200-week average.
CE Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $123.3 | $129.9 | +5.3% |
| 2021 | $129.9 | $161.3 | +24% |
| 2022 | $161.3 | $102.6 | -36% |
| 2023 | $102.6 | $155.4 | +51% |
| 2024 | $155.4 | $68.8 | -56% |
| 2025 | $68.8 | $42.9 | -38% |
| 2026 YTD | $42.9 | $51.3 | +20% |
CE has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's up 20% so far in 2026.