Cemex Posts a Record Quarter as Its New CEO’s Cost Cuts Bite

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%.

3 Key Points

—Cemex (NYSE: CX; BMV: CEMEXCPO), the Monterrey cement group operating across four continents, opened 2026 with a record first quarter: EBITDA of $794 million rose 34% year over year on sales of $4.02 billion (+11%), with the margin expanding 3.3 percentage points to 19.8% as the new CEO's 'Project Cutting Edge' cost program hit its stride.

—The headline net line needs translation: reported profit of roughly $210 million fell about two thirds against a year-ago quarter inflated by the Dominican Republic divestment gain — adjusted for that one-off, profit roughly DOUBLED; the sell side saw through it, and Cemex has now beaten EPS estimates in four consecutive quarters.

—Wall Street's verdict is the most bullish in this earnings series: 10 of 15 analysts rate the ADR a buy (3 strong buys, zero sells) with a $14.47 target against a $13.10 price — a stock up 73% from its 52-week low, riding Mexico's building cycle, US infrastructure and its own investment-grade comeback.

Cemex Earnings: What Happened

01What 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.

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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.

Company Intelligence · Market Data

Ticker / listingCX (NYSE ADR) · CEMEXCPO (BMV)

ADR price (Jul 17)$13.10

Market cap$18.9 bn

52-week range$7.57 – $13.64

Trailing P/E37.4x (one-off-distorted)

Price / book1.4x

EV / EBITDA9.1x

Wall Street target (consensus)$14.47

Analyst ratings3 Strong Buy · 7 Buy · 5 Hold · 0 Sell

Dividend yield0.8%

Beta0.84

Source: EODHD market data, July 17, 2026.

Company Intelligence · Company Profile

CompanyCemex, S.A.B. de C.V.

Sector / industryBasic Materials · Building Materials

HeadquartersSan Pedro Garza García (Monterrey), Mexico

Employees~38,900

CEOJaime Muguiro

Executive ChairmanRogelio Zambrano

FootprintMexico · US · Europe · LatAm

Credit standingInvestment grade (regained)

Source: EODHD company fundamentals, July 17, 2026.

Key Drivers Behind the Cemex Earnings

02Key Drivers

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.

Live Company IntelligenceCemex SAB de CV ADR — the full investor dossierInside: live share price, market cap, three-year financials, valuation, ESG and peer benchmarks — plus the latest Rio Times coverage.

Rio Times · Live Ticker Intelligence

Cemex SAB de CV ADR

CEMEX · Bolsa Mexicana de ValoresBasic MaterialsBuilding Materials

Share price · live

$22.74

▲ +0.53% today

Market cap

$18.9 bn

1.4 bn shares

P / E

37.4

EPS 0.35

Dividend yield

0.8%

The company

Employees

38,892

Headquarters

San Pedro Garza García

Listed since

1999

Website

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, distribution, and sale of cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, urbanization solutions, and other construction materials and services worldwide. It offers gray ordinary portland, white portland, and blended cement products; masonry or mortar products; standard…

Financial performance · FY · USD

RevenueNet income

2023

$16.4 bn

$182.0 mn

2024

$16.1 bn

$939.0 mn

2025

$16.1 bn

$960.0 mn

Net income rose to $960.0 mn in 2025, from $182.0 mn in 2023.

Valuation & returns

EBITDA margin

18.3%

Net margin

2.7%

Return on equity

3.8%

Price / book

1.44

Enterprise value

$25.0 bn

Revenue growth · YoY

+11.2%

Latest earnings

Q1 2026 — reported EPS 0.17 vs 0.11 expected

Beat +55%

Peers & comparators

USD/MXN

▲ +0.30%

From The Rio Times

Latest coverage · 16 Jul 2026

Cemex Wins €200 Million From Spain’s Green Fund

Read →

Data: EODHD Fundamentals & live feed · The Rio Times Ticker Intelligence

Cemex Financial Detail

03Financial 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

—

Five-Year Track Record

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

Earnings vs. Estimates (per ADR, USD)

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.

Balance Sheet Snapshot

Company Intelligence · Balance Sheet (Mar 31, 2026, USD)

Total debt$7.5 bn

Cash & equivalents$687 mn

Net debt$6.8 bn

Shareholders' equity$13.1 bn

Net debt / EBITDA (TTM)~2.3x

Return on equity (TTM)3.8% (one-off-distorted)

Source: EODHD company fundamentals, July 17, 2026.

Management Signals

04Management 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

05What 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

06Risks

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

07Sector 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.

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.

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.

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.