Trinseo 2025 Q2 Earnings Deepened Losses Amid Geopolitical Uncertainty

Trinseo reported second-quarter 2025 earnings that fell short of expectations, with a significantly wider net loss of $2.95 per share compared to the prior year. The company also issued a bearish full-year outlook, projecting a net loss of $320 million, underscoring ongoing challenges from depressed demand and trade uncertainty.

Revenue
Trinseo's Q2 revenue dropped 14.8% year-over-year to $784.30 million. The decline was driven by lower sales volumes and pricing, particularly in the latex binders and polystyrene businesses. Across all segments, Engineered Materials, Latex Binders, and Polymer Solutions all experienced significant revenue contractions, with Latex Binders and Polymer Solutions declining by 19% and 17% respectively. Americas Styrenics contributed through equity income but was also below prior year levels.

Earnings/Net Income
Trinseo posted a net loss of $105.50 million for the quarter, or $2.95 per diluted share, a 53.6% deterioration from the $1.92 per share loss in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $41.6 million, a $25 million decrease from the $66.8 million recorded in 2024 Q2, primarily due to lower volumes and equity income from Americas Styrenics. Despite cost-saving efforts, the EPS result is clearly negative, signaling a worsening profitability.

Price Action
Trinseo’s stock price continued to struggle, dropping 5.50% on the day of the earnings report and falling 30.41% month-to-date.

Post Earnings Price Action Review
A strategy of buying Trinseo shares after the earnings report and holding for 30 days led to a disastrous return of -89.21%, far underperforming the benchmark return of 48.67%. The excess return was -137.88% and the strategy's CAGR over three years was -53.49%, indicating severe underperformance and investor skepticism.

CEO Commentary
Frank Bozich, President and CEO, attributed the poor results to customer hesitancy and order cancellations driven by geopolitical and trade uncertainties. He highlighted progress in reducing the cash conversion cycle by double-digit days and cost savings from restructuring initiatives, expressing confidence in potential demand recovery in a more stable trade environment.

Guidance
Trinseo provided a full-year 2025 outlook of a net loss of approximately $320 million and Free Cash Flow of around negative $165 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be approximately $200 million, assuming no recovery in the back half of the year. Bozich emphasized continued efforts to optimize working capital and reduce discretionary spending to preserve liquidity.

Additional News
Trinseo announced a conference call and webcast on August 7, 2025, at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, where Frank Bozich, President and CEO, David Stasse, CFO, and Bee van Kessel, SVP of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations, will discuss the financial results. Investors can register for the call or webcast to participate. Additionally, the company posted its Q2 2025 financial results and presentation slides on the Investor Relations website and will file the results with the SEC on Form 8-K. A replay of the call and transcript will be available until August 7, 2026.