Peabody Energy posts a third-quarter loss and lowers Powder River Basin sales guidance
Revenue of $1.10B beat the $1.04B expected, but the miner lowered Powder River Basin sales guidance by about 7.5 million tons and delayed spending at Centurion.
Peabody Energy lost $0.27 a share in the third quarter on a GAAP basis, $0.22 worse than expected. Revenue of $1.10B was ahead of the $1.04B expected, but the changes to guidance matter more than the sales line.
The largest is in the Powder River Basin, the US thermal coal region. Peabody cut its 2026 sales volume guidance there by about 7.5 million tons and raised expected costs by $1 per ton, citing weaker US coal demand. That fits what forecasters have described for the basin this year: output expected to fall as natural gas competition, plant retirements and large utility stockpiles weigh on orders.
The seaborne business gave less help than the headline pricing suggests. Peabody raised its seaborne thermal export volume guidance by 0.2 million tons. It lowered seaborne metallurgical volume guidance by 0.6 million tons and raised expected costs by about $15 per ton.
Centurion is the other weak point. Peabody's July outlook had pointed to the mine reaching targeted production rates to lift second-half results. Instead, faulted conditions there slowed advance rates, and the company cut 2026 capital expenditure guidance by $40m, mainly by deferring development spending at the mine.
Chief Executive Jim Grech said the quarter showed improving momentum across the portfolio, as seaborne operations benefited from higher pricing, even as higher-cost faulted conditions at Centurion slowed advance rates. The recovery now rests more on seaborne prices than on the volumes Peabody expects to sell, and that looks a thinner base than July's plan.
The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share, payable December 9 to stockholders of record on November 19.
© Raydn · raydn.us