Top Performer for Wed: Solutia (SOA)

Solutia Inc. (SOA - Snapshot Report) is having a pretty good Wednesday so far with shares gaining more than 7%. That's enough to make this specialty chemicals company a Zacks #1 Rank Top Performer today.

Volume of 1.13 million shares is very close to reaching the daily average of 1.27 million at the time of this writing.

Solutia is a market-leading performance materials and specialty chemicals company. It has a range of products, including Saflex® interlayer for laminated glass; CPFilms aftermarket window films sold under the LLumar® brand and others; and technical specialties including the Flexsys® family of chemicals for the rubber industry, Skydrol® aviation hydraulic fluid and Therminol® heat transfer fluid.

SOA is 1 of 4 companies from the chemicals-diversified industry on today's Zacks #1 Rank List. The other 3 companies are Amcol International Corporation (ACO - Snapshot Report), Cytec Industries Inc. (CYT - Snapshot Report) and The Dow Chemical Company (DOW - Analyst Report).

Earnings Estimates for Solutia

Earnings estimates have trended higher for Solutia over the past couple of months. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this year is currently at 84 cents per share, marking a gain of approximately 9% in 60 days.

Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for next year is at 93 cents, or 5.7% better than 2 months ago. At the moment, analysts expect profit growth of nearly 11% next year over this year.

Third-Quarter Report

Solutia has put together 2 straight quarters of better-than-expected earnings surprises. In fact, it has beaten in 4 of 5 quarters.

Most recently in its third-quarter report, the company reported earnings per share of 32 cents that surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by more than 18.5%.

Net sales of $448 million declined year-over-year but improved sequentially by 9%.

Solutia attributed its quarterly results to an underlying improvement in sales volumes and aggressive cost reduction actions taken early in the global recession.

The company expects a seasonal slowdown in the fourth quarter, but still sees a gradual increase in underlying demand. As such, it raised its full year 2009 adjusted EBITDA guidance.

Read the full analyst report on ACO

Read the full analyst report on CYT

Read the full analyst report on DOW

Read the full analyst report on SOA