Kronos Worldwide 2025 Q2 Earnings Sharp Net Income Decline Amid Global Uncertainty

Kronos Worldwide (KRO) reported its fiscal 2025 Q2 earnings on Aug 07th, 2025. The results significantly missed expectations, swinging to a loss of $0.08 per share from a profit of $0.17 per share in 2024 Q2, with no upward adjustment to guidance.

Revenue
Total revenue declined by 1.2% to $494.40 million in Q2 2025, down from $500.50 million in Q2 2024. The drop was attributed to lower average TiO2 selling prices and reduced export sales volumes, partially offset by higher North American sales and favorable currency fluctuations.

Earnings/Net Income
The company swung to a net loss of $9.20 million in Q2 2025, compared to a net income of $19.50 million a year ago, representing a 147.2% deterioration. Earnings per share fell from $0.17 to a loss of $0.08, a 147.1% negative change, indicating a severe performance decline.

Price Action
The stock has struggled post-earnings, with a 2.92% drop in a single trading day, a 6.73% weekly decline, and a 22.99% month-to-date fall, reflecting investor pessimism.

Post-Earnings Price Action Review
A post-earnings trading strategy of buying KRO after a report and holding for 30 days yielded a disastrous return of -46.01%, underperforming the benchmark by -131.43%. The strategy’s CAGR of -11.68% and Sharpe ratio of -0.31 underscore its poor risk-adjusted returns despite a 0.00% maximum drawdown.

CEO Commentary
The CEO attributed the poor performance to global uncertainty, including U.S. trade policies and geopolitical tensions, which have eroded customer confidence and delayed market recovery. Operating at reduced capacity led to $20 million in unabsorbed fixed production costs, though cost efficiencies from lower raw material prices partially offset the losses. Management expressed cautious optimism, focusing on stabilizing production and managing fixed costs in a volatile environment.

Guidance
The company did not provide explicit forward-looking guidance. However, it noted that global uncertainties and customer inventory hesitancy are expected to continue affecting sales volumes and pricing, with a strategic emphasis on operational flexibility and cost control.

Additional News
On July 16, 2024, Kronos completed the acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in Louisiana Pigment Company, L.P. (LPC), previously held by Venator Investments, Ltd. This acquisition made LPC a wholly-owned subsidiary and was accounted for as a business combination. The results of operations for LPC were included in the company’s financials beginning from the acquisition date. No other major M&A, C-level changes, or dividend/buyback announcements were disclosed within the three weeks following the earnings report.