# BASF Raises 2026 EBITDA Before Special Items Forecast After Q3 Beat

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/42411
Published: 2026-10-28T06:44:32.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-28T06:44:32.000Z
Section: Business

> Third-quarter sales and adjusted EPS topped analyst averages, while reported net income and reported EPS came in below them.

BASF raised its 2026 forecast for EBITDA before special items after third-quarter sales and adjusted EPS exceeded analyst averages, lifting the lower end of its earnings range by €500 million.

The German chemical company released results at 2 a.m. ET (0600 UTC) Oct. 28. Sales for July through September reached €16.36 billion, up 14.2% from a year earlier and above the €15.665 billion analyst average. Higher prices contributed 11.7 percentage points to sales growth, while volume added 2.1 points. Currency effects added 1.7 points, and portfolio changes reduced growth by 1.3 points.

EBITDA before special items rose 14.9% to €1.643 billion, exceeding the €1.495 billion average estimate. Adjusted earnings per share were €0.72, compared with an average estimate of €0.38. BASF’s adjusted EPS measure excludes special items and the amortization of intangible assets.

The revised range is €7.4 billion to €7.8 billion, versus €6.9 billion to €7.7 billion previously. The company had raised that earlier range after preliminary second-quarter results. Its free-cash-flow forecast remains €1.5 billion to €2.3 billion, and its forecast for carbon dioxide emissions remains 17.2 million to 18.2 million metric tons.

Reported net income was €155 million, below the €196 million analyst average. Reported EPS was €0.18, compared with an average estimate of €0.26. The results therefore differed by measure: adjusted EPS beat its average, while reported net income and reported EPS fell short.

Total EBITDA was €1.206 billion, nearly unchanged from €1.207 billion a year earlier. EBIT was a loss of €98 million, compared with income of €232 million in the third quarter of 2025. Special items reduced EBITDA by €437 million, chiefly because of restructuring and a legal-dispute settlement.

BASF Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors Dr. Markus Kamieth tied the higher forecast to performance from the company’s core businesses. “The strong year-to-date performance of our core businesses gives us confidence to narrow our forecast range for EBITDA before special items upward,” Kamieth said.

The company kept its 2026 economic assumptions unchanged: GDP growth of 2.5%, industrial-production growth of 2% and chemical-production growth of 1.8%. BASF cited continued uncertainty around geopolitical and global economic developments.