Shares of Celanese Corp. rose 2% in the extended session Thursday after the chemical and specialty materials company reported first-quarter results that topped Wall Street views. Celanese earned $323 million, or $2.82 a share, compared with $220 million a year ago. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $3.46 a share. Sales rose to $1.8 billion, from $1.5 billion a year ago, as pricing rose 15%, “more than offsetting” volume declining 3%, the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of $2.98 a share on sales of $1.7 billion. The stock ended the regular trading day down 2.9%.
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