Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. APD announced that it has successfully achieved the mechanical completion of the world’s largest industrial gas complex in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the company completed the world-scale project without a lost time injury in 25 million worker hours. The industrial gas complex is expected to be onstream in phases in 2019.
In 2015, Air Products was awarded a 20-year contract by Saudi Aramco to build, own and operate this industrial gas complex in a joint venture (JV) with ACWA Holding. The facility will supply 75,000 metric tons per day (55,000 metric tons nitrogen and 20,000 metric tons oxygen) to Saudi Aramco's refinery and Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, which is being built in Jazan.
Notably, this is one of the largest projects executed by Air Products till date and demonstrates its engineering capabilities and expertise.
In first-quarter fiscal 2019 (ended Dec 31, 2018), the company recorded adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.86, up 4% from the year-ago quarter’s tally of $1.79. However, the figure trailed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.87.
The company continues to expect adjusted EPS for fiscal 2019 in the range of $8.05-$8.30 per share, reflecting an increase of 10% at the midpoint year over year.
Moreover, adjusted EPS for second-quarter fiscal 2019 is projected in the band of $1.80-$1.90, up 8% at the midpoint year over year. The company continues to anticipates capital expenditure of $2.3-$2.5 billion for fiscal 2019.
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. Price and Consensus
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. Quote
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Air Products currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A few better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. KL, Ingevity Corporation NGVT and The Mosaic Company MOS. While Kirkland and Ingevity currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Mosaic carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Kirkland has an expected earnings growth rate of 20.9% for 2019. The company’s shares have surged 85.3% in the past year.
Ingevity has an expected earnings growth rate of 17.9% for 2019. The company’s shares have surged 41.5% in a year’s time.
Mosaic has an expected earnings growth rate of 23.5% for 2019. Its shares have gained 10.6% in a year’s time.
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