Cemex Posts a Record Quarter as Its New CEO’s Cost Cuts Bite
Key Facts
—EBITDA. First-quarter EBITDA reached a record $794 million, up 34% year over year.
—Sales. Sales rose 11% to $4.02 billion, with the margin expanding 3.3 percentage points to 19.8%.
—Adjusted profit. Adjusted for a one-off Dominican Republic divestment gain, profit roughly doubled.
—EPS beats. Cemex has beaten EPS estimates in four consecutive quarters.
—Analyst consensus. 10 of 15 analysts rate the ADR a buy, with a $14.47 price target against a $13.10 price.
—Stock surge. The stock is up 73% from its 52-week low.
Cemex opened 2026 with record first-quarter EBITDA of $794 million, up 34% year over year, as sales rose 11% to $4.02 billion and margin expanded 3.3 points to 19.8%.
Cemex Earnings: What Happened
Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V. is Mexico's global industrial flagship: one of the world's largest cement and ready-mix concrete producers, with operations across Mexico, the United States, Europe, and Latin America, nearly 39,000 employees, and a New York ADR (CX) that has traded since the 1990s. After its near-death experience in 2009 and a decade of deleveraging, the group recovered its investment-grade rating and is now run by CEO Jaime Muguiro under Executive Chairman Rogelio Zambrano Lozano.
First-quarter results, published April 23, delivered what the company called record first-quarter EBITDA: $794 million, up 34%, on sales of $4.02 billion, up 11%, per Forbes México. Management reaffirmed full-year guidance of high-single-digit EBITDA growth despite weather disruptions — a quarter built on price discipline and the internal cost program rather than volume.
Key Drivers Behind the Cemex Earnings
Margin, not tonnage. Cement volumes were mixed across regions — weather hurt the US quarter — yet EBITDA grew 34% because pricing held everywhere and Project Cutting Edge, the internal efficiency drive launched with the new CEO, is stripping out cost faster than planned.
A 3.3-point margin expansion in a flat-volume quarter is the definition of self-help.
Portfolio surgery finished the job. The Dominican exit, asset sales in marginal geographies and reinvestment in Mexico and the US concentrated the group where returns are highest — and where two structural demand stories run: Mexican industrial building (nearshoring's factories need concrete) and US infrastructure spending.
This week's €200 million award from Spain's green fund for decarbonizing its Alcanar plant — covered separately by The Rio Times — shows the third leg: getting paid for the energy transition rather than just billed.
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Cemex Financial Detail
| Metric | 1T25 | 1T26 | Chg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net sales | $3.62 bn | $4.02 bn | +11% |
| EBITDA | $593 mn | $794 mn (record 1Q) | +34% |
| EBITDA margin | 16.5% | 19.8% | +3.3 pp |
| Reported net income | ~$700 mn (one-off gain) | ~$210 mn | −~69% |
| Adjusted net income | — | roughly doubled | — |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | EBITDA | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $14.4 bn | $2.7 bn | $753 mn |
| 2022 | $14.7 bn | $2.2 bn | $858 mn |
| 2023 | $16.4 bn | $3.1 bn | $182 mn |
| 2024 | $16.1 bn | $2.8 bn | $939 mn |
| 2025 | $16.1 bn | $2.6 bn | $960 mn |
| Quarter | EPS actual | EPS estimate | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | $0.17 | $0.11 | +54.5% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.24 | $0.19 | +26.3% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.18 | $0.18 | 0.0% |
| Q2 2025 | $0.22 | $0.18 | +22.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $0.50 | $0.05 | +900% (one-off) |
Four beats in a row with zero sell ratings on the sheet: the analyst community's highest collective conviction in this earnings series — and, at a 10% gap to target, also its most modest implied upside. The market has largely caught up with the turnaround.
Management Signals
Muguiro's first full year is a study in focus: guidance kept conservative and then beaten, capital pointed at Mexico and the US, the dividend reinstated but small, and every public appearance anchored on Cutting Edge savings targets. After a decade in which Cemex's story was its debt, management is deliberately making the story boring — which, for this company, is the most bullish signal available.
What to Watch Next
2T26 results in late July: whether the record cadence survives the weather-hit US spring. Mexican construction data: nearshoring's factory build-out against a government infrastructure pause. US infrastructure outlays: the highway-bill pipeline feeds Cemex's most profitable market. Green-transition payments: more Alcanar-style awards would start moving the model from cost to revenue. Rating trajectory: further upgrades compress the ADR's funding-cost discount.
Risks
Cement is late-cycle: a North American slowdown would hit volumes just as pricing anniversaries. Energy costs are the margin's permanent hostage.
Mexico's public-works pause removes one demand leg this year. And the decarbonization bill is existential over a decade — the industry's CO2 problem will be solved with capex, and first movers pay firSt
Sector Context
Across this earnings season, Mexico's cement and materials names are the mirror image of its airports: where GAP cut guidance on soft travel, Cemex is printing records on hard construction. The BMV read-through that flagged Orbia and Cemex as the quarter's standouts has it half-right — both are cost-cutting conglomerates in cyclical industries, but Cemex's cycle is arriving while Orbia's is still leaving.
For foreign investors, CX remains the cleanest liquid way to own the physical build-out of nearshoring North America.
This report is part of The Rio Times' Company Intelligence coverage of Latin American listed companies. It is journalism, not investment advice.
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Cemex's reported net income drop so sharply even though sales and EBITDA hit records?
Reported profit fell about two thirds because the year-ago quarter included a large one-off gain from selling the Dominican Republic operations. Adjusted for that divestment gain, profit roughly doubled.
What is driving Cemex's profit growth if cement volumes are mixed?
Profit growth is coming from strong pricing across all regions and the new CEO's 'Project Cutting Edge' cost program, which is cutting costs faster than planned and expanded the margin by 3.3 percentage points.
How do Wall Street analysts currently view Cemex's stock?
The analyst view is very bullish, with 10 out of 15 analysts rating the ADR a buy, including 3 strong buys, and zero sell ratings, against a consensus price target of $14.47.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
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