BASF SE shares fell 3% on Friday after the German chemicals giant issued a 2026 earnings outlook that fell short of analyst expectations. The company guided full-year EBITDA before special items to €6.2-€7 billion, with the midpoint of €6.6 billion trailing consensus estimates of €7 billion.

BASF flagged a €200 million foreign exchange headwind in the first quarter and said demand remained challenging, with no market improvement assumed in its base case. The company's full-year 2025 EBITDA before special items fell 9.5% to €6.554 billion from €7.240 billion, while sales declined 2.9% to €59.657 billion, weighed by negative currency effects.

The Chemicals segment posted full-year EBITDA of €747 million, down 43.2%, and recorded near-zero EBITDA of minus €1 million in the fourth quarter, missing estimates by 56%. Chief Financial Officer Dirk Elvermann said net debt fell to €18.33 billion from €18.78 billion, representing 3.2 times net debt to adjusted EBITDA.