Mosaic (MOS) first-quarter earnings fell more than expected year over year, while the fertilizer company withdrew its full-year phosphate production guidance due to recent raw material market dynamics.
Adjusted earnings came in at $0.05 a share for the March quarter, down from $0.49 the year before and trailing the FactSet-polled consensus of $0.24. Sales climbed to nearly $3 billion from $2.62 billion, topping the Street's view for $2.93 billion.
"Business conditions were volatile in the first quarter," Chief Executive Bruce Bodine said in a statement. "We responded by curtailing uneconomic production, carefully managing working capital and using our market access to meet customer demand."
The stock fell 6.7% in the most recent premarket activity.
Mosaic withdrew its phosphate production guidance for 2026 as sulfur reached record prices due to limited availability. In February, it expected production to be at or more than 7 million tonnes for the year. The company said it is reviewing its operating plan for the rest of the year, and has taken initial measures to partially curb production at Louisiana and Bartow and scale back additional output in Brazil.
"As we look to the rest of the year, we are prepared to take additional actions to ensure we navigate effectively for the short term while preserving our ability to benefit when market dynamics improve," according to Bodine.
Potash sales amounted to $667 million in the first quarter, up from $570 million in the prior-year period, while sales volume ticked up to 2.2 million tonnes from 2.1 million tonnes. The firm continues to project potash production of roughly 9 million tonnes for the ongoing year.
Phosphate sales improved to $1.4 billion from $1.1 billion last year, buoyed by robust international demand, while sales volume increased to 1.9 million tonnes from 1.5 million tonnes. Mosaic fertilizantes sales inclined to $937 million from $934 million, while sales volume decreased to 1.6 million tonnes from 1.8 million tonnes.
For the current quarter, Mosaic anticipates phosphate sales volume to be in a range of 1.4 million tonnes to 1.7 million tonnes and potash sales volume to be in between 1.9 million tonnes to 2.1 million tonnes.
Capital expenditures for the full year are now pegged at about $1.25 billion, down from its prior forecast of $1.5 billion, reflecting an optimized project portfolio, as well as the deferral of spending on less time-sensitive projects to the future.



