PARMA, Ohio -- GrafTech International Ltd. said Thursday that third-quarter profit and revenue fell. The company still beat analysts' expectations on both counts and the stock rose.
In afternoon trading, the shares were up $1.37, or 14.3 percent, to $10.98.
GrafTech sells products used in steelmaking and other industries. The company said it faces a difficult environment because of weakness in the global economy, pointing to a more pessimistic growth forecast this month from the International Monetary Fund.
The Parma, Ohio, company trimmed the top end of its estimate for 2012 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, saying it expects it to range between $235 million and $245 million compared with an earlier forecast of $235 million to $255 million. It said it was responding by cutting $5 million from overhead expenses.
Third-quarter net income was $29.6 million, or 22 cents per share, down 26 percent from $40.3 million, or 28 cents per share, a year earlier.
That, however, was good enough to beat the analysts' forecast of 18 cents per share, according to a survey by FactSet.
Revenue fell 7 percent to $321 million. Wall Street expected $301 million.
Sales of in the core industrial-materials business dropped 14 percent despite price increases. The smaller engineered-solutions segment, which includes consumer products, rose 41 percent.