Specialty earnings mostly beat reduced expectations

摘要

While many firms flagged end-market weakness, North American specialty chemical earnings largely squeaked past lowered expectations in the past two weeks. Coatings makers Sherwin-Williams (SW) and RPM saw rising sales, with demand largely holding up in North America. Ecolab's industrial and institutional segments saw gains, and FMC posted strong results in Latin America. Margins were boosted by moderating raw material cost inflation, even as volume growth was mostly soft.