The Filing Desk

Celanese

CE · NYSE · Materials · Financials, fiscal 2016 to 2025

CE · Last close · October 26, 2026
$48.08
Value Celanese yourself

Celanese's revenue fell 7.0% to $9.5 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was −8.2%, down from −7.0% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $803 million, up 51.2%. It paid out $13 million in dividends and buybacks, 2% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 0.2%.

CELANESE CORPORATION Latest fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 10-K filed February 24, 2026 · 0001306830-26-000031 Updated
Revenue
$9.5B
7.0%
Operating margin
−8.2%
1.2 pts
Net income
−$1.2B
 
Free cash flow
$803M
51.2%
Return on capital
−3.7%
0.6 pts
Market cap
$5.3B
Oct 26 close
P/E
—
Loss: no P/E

Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.

About these figures. Net debt to EBITDA for fiscal 2025 is blank: the 10-K's structured data doesn't include every figure it needs.

Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.

Revenue and margins

Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
Margins
Percent of revenue
GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow

Net income and earnings per share

From fiscal 2016 to 2023, earnings per share grew 16.3% a year and net income 11.6% a year, as buybacks cut the share count by 25%. Celanese then lost money in fiscal 2024 and 2025.

Net income
US$ billions, fiscal years; loss years in red.
Diluted earnings per share
US$ per share, fiscal years, restated for any stock splits; loss years in red.

Returns on capital

Return on capital and on equity
Percent. Return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business (debt plus equity, minus cash); return on equity is net income over shareholders' equity. Both use the average of opening and closing balances.
Return on capitalReturn on equity

Cash flow

Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure; negative years in red.

Payouts and share count

Dividends and buybacks
US$ billions, cash paid in each fiscal year
DividendsShare buybacks
Diluted share count
Weighted-average diluted shares, millions

Valuation

Two ways to value Celanese yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.

Discounted cash flow (DCF)

A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from Celanese's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.

Value per share on three example scenarios, from Celanese's fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $803M, net cash of −$11.5B at December 31, 2025 and 110 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Celanese: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, -0.4% a year, kept between 0% and 20%; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 13%: 11% for a cyclical or higher-risk business (Specialty Chemicals), plus 1 point as a smaller company, worth $5.3B, plus 1 point for unsteady results (a loss in fiscal 2025); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target. A negative value means Celanese's net debt is larger than what that scenario's cash flows are worth today.

From the filings
Cash from operations minus capital spending in fiscal 2025.
Cash and short-term investments minus debt and finance leases at December 31, 2025. Negative means net debt.
Weighted-average diluted shares in fiscal 2025.
Your assumptions
Start from
Fitted to Celanese's own revenue growth, as above. Cautious: growth of -2% then 0% a year, 2% after year 10, a 14% discount rate. Base: growth of 0% then 1% a year, 2.5% after year 10, a 13% discount rate. Optimistic: growth of 2% then 2.5% a year, 3% after year 10, a 12% discount rate.
Long-run growth forever after year 10. Usually close to inflation, and always below the discount rate.
The yearly return an investor wants for the risk. A higher rate gives a lower value.
Value per share on these assumptions
—
—
Last close, October 26, 2026
$48.08
Value on these assumptions, against the last close
—

Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
—
Everything after year 10, valued today
—
Plus net cash
—
Share of value from after year 10
—
Projected free cash flow
US$ billions. Each column is one year's projected free cash flow, split into what it is worth today and the part removed by discounting.
Value todayRemoved by discounting

How the value changes with two assumptions

Value per share in US$, with the growth rates above. The highlighted cell matches the current assumptions.
How the model works. Free cash flow grows at the first rate for five years and the second rate for five more, and each year is discounted at the discount rate. Everything after year 10 is valued as year-10 cash flow × (1 + growth after year 10) ÷ (discount rate − growth after year 10), discounted back ten years. Net cash is added and the total is divided by diluted shares. The result depends entirely on the assumptions. It is not a forecast, a price target or a recommendation. The last close is the consolidated US closing price, from Databento.

Price-to-earnings (P/E) method

Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.

The P/E method needs positive earnings, and Celanese's latest diluted earnings per share were negative or zero.

Balance sheet

Fiscal year endFY21FY22FY23FY24FY25
Cash and short-term investments5461,5081,8059621,263
Debt incl. finance leases3,95914,62513,69412,72512,790
Net debt (negative means net cash)3,41313,11711,88911,76311,527
Net debt to EBITDA1.5x7.1x5.0x145.2x—
Debt to equity0.9x2.6x1.9x2.5x3.2x
Interest coverage21.4x3.4x2.3x−1.1x−1.1x
Current ratio1.5x1.6x1.5x1.3x1.6x
Quick ratio0.9x0.9x0.9x0.7x0.9x
US$ millions unless stated, at each fiscal year end. Net debt to EBITDA is debt minus cash, divided by operating income before depreciation and amortization: roughly how many years of those earnings the net debt equals. Debt to equity is debt as a multiple of shareholders' equity. Interest coverage is operating income divided by interest expense. The current ratio is current assets over current liabilities; the quick ratio leaves out inventory.

Insider trades

Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, 4 insiders bought $593,258 of Celanese shares on the open market, and none sold any.

DateInsiderTradeSharesPriceValueFiling
Aug 14, 2026Chuck KyrishSVP & CFOBought2,300$45.52$104,701Form 4
Aug 11, 2026Mark Christopher MurraySVP - AcetylsBought2,153$45.52$98,005Form 4
Aug 11, 2026Ashley B DuffieSVP & GCBought600$45.60$27,360Form 4
Dec 10, 2025Scott A RichardsonCEO & President, DirectorBought3,800$41.59$158,042Form 4
Dec 9, 2025Chuck KyrishSVP & CFOBought5,000$41.03$205,150Form 4
Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from their Form 4 filings with the SEC: one row per person, day and filing, at the day's average price. Grants, option exercises and shares withheld for tax aren't counted. Insiders buy and sell for many reasons, such as taxes, spreading their savings or a plan set up months earlier, so a trade on its own says little about where a company is heading. For information only, not investment advice. Insider trades at all companies

Piotroski F-score

The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.

TestFY23FY24FY25
Net income is positivePassFailFail
Cash from operations is positivePassPassPass
Return on assets roseFailFailPass
Cash from operations exceeds net incomeFailPassPass
Debt fell relative to assetsPassPassFail
Current ratio roseFailFailPass
Share count didn't riseFailPassFail
Gross margin roseFailFailFail
Revenue rose relative to assetsFailFailPass
F-score3 of 94 of 95 of 9
Accruals ratio0.2%−10.2%−10.4%
The accruals ratio is net income minus cash from operations, over average total assets.

Compare

Put Celanese side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.

Similar companies

CompanyYearRevenue growthOperating marginFree cash flow marginReturn on capitalNet debt to EBITDAF-scoreCompare
CelaneseFY25−7.0%−8.2%8.4%−3.7%—5
Eastman ChemicalFY25−6.7%—4.8%6.5%3.3x5Compare
International Flavors & FragrancesFY25−5.2%−3.5%2.4%−1.4%9.4x6Compare
WestlakeFY25−8.0%−14.1%−4.7%−10.0%—3Compare
RPM InternationalFY266.7%—8.6%13.9%1.9x6Compare
Each company's latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so the periods don't line up exactly. Free cash flow margin is free cash flow as a share of revenue. Net debt to EBITDA is explained under the balance sheet, and the F-score above.

10 years of figures

Fiscal yearFY16FY17FY18FY19FY20FY21FY22FY23FY24FY25
Income statement
Revenue5,3896,1407,1556,2975,6558,5379,67310,92610,2689,544
Revenue growth−5.0%13.9%16.5%−12.0%−10.2%51.0%13.3%12.9%−6.0%−7.0%
Gross profit1,4051,5111,9721,6061,2932,6822,3802,5832,3361,952
Research and development787372677486112146130125
Operating income9348571,3348346641,9461,3781,665−720−786
Net income9008431,2078521,9851,8901,8941,943−1,542−1,165
Diluted EPS (US$)6.186.098.916.8416.7516.8617.3417.76−14.11−10.64
Diluted shares (millions)146138135125118112109109109110
Cash flow
Cash from operations8938031,5581,4541,3431,7571,8191,8999661,146
Capital expenditure246267337370364467543568435343
Free cash flow6475361,2211,0849791,2901,2761,331531803
Dividends paid20124128030029330429730530713
Share buybacks5005008059966501,00017000
Acquisitions178269144911001,14210,5895200
Stock-based compensation31477148289560403224
Balance sheet at fiscal year end
Cash and short-term investments6686084705031,4885461,5081,8059621,263
Debt incl. finance leases3,0063,4843,5993,6803,9373,95914,62513,69412,72512,790
Total assets8,3579,5389,3139,47610,90911,97526,27226,59722,83821,695
Total liabilities5,3366,2395,9346,5787,0147,43820,16719,07117,27517,223
Shareholders' equity2,5882,8872,9842,5073,5264,1895,6377,0655,1294,049
Margins and ratios
Gross margin26.1%24.6%27.6%25.5%22.9%31.4%24.6%23.6%22.8%20.4%
Operating margin17.3%14.0%18.6%13.2%11.7%22.8%14.2%15.2%−7.0%−8.2%
Net margin16.7%13.7%16.9%13.5%35.1%22.1%19.6%17.8%−15.0%−12.2%
Free cash flow margin12.0%8.7%17.1%17.2%17.3%15.1%13.2%12.2%5.2%8.4%
Return on capital16.8%11.9%17.0%11.6%9.5%23.2%10.1%8.6%−3.1%−3.7%
Return on equity36.2%30.8%41.1%31.0%65.8%49.0%38.5%30.6%−25.3%−25.4%
Return on assets10.6%9.4%12.8%9.1%19.5%16.5%9.9%7.3%−6.2%−5.2%
Net debt to EBITDA1.9x2.5x1.9x2.7x2.4x1.5x7.1x5.0x145.2x—
US$ millions unless stated. Where a later 10-K restated a year, the latest filed figure is shown. Download all figures (CSV, US$ millions)
Source: Celanese's Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR. For information only, not investment advice. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with Celanese.