09:33 AM EST, 11/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Air Products and Chemicals ( APD ) on Thursday provided a fiscal 2025 earnings guidance that missed Wall Street's estimates as the industrial gases company's fourth-quarter earnings rose more than expected while revenue unexpectedly remained flat.

Full-year adjusted earnings are expected to come in between $12.70 and $13 per share. The consensus on Capital IQ is for normalized EPS of $13.33 for the current fiscal year.

For the first quarter, the company expects adjusted EPS in the range of $2.75 to $2.85, while the current consensus is $3.15.

"We are not forecasting any significant growth for this quarter due to our concerns about the economic activity in China," Chief Executive Seifi Ghasemi said on an earnings conference call, according to a Capital IQ transcript. "It is possible that economic activity in China might improve with actions that the Chinese government might take in the future, but we have not included that in our forecast."

The company expects capital expenditures in the range of $4.5 billion to $5.0 billion in fiscal 2025, compared with $5.15 billion in the year ended September.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, Air Products' adjusted earnings gained 13% year over year to $3.56 a share, ahead of the Street's view for $3.48. Sales came in at $3.19 billion, below the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. The metric was largely flat year over year as higher volume and pricing were offset by lower energy cost pass-through.

Revenue in the Americas fell 3% from last year to $1.31 billion, while Europe rose 3% to $730.9 million. Sales in Asia jumped 7% to $861.2 million.

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