Vertex Energy reports Q2 EPS (58c), consensus (13c)

Reports Q2 revenue $750.06M, consensus $726.32M. CEO Benjamin Cowart stated, “We continued to demonstrate operational reliability for conventional refining and overall continued strong performance in safety. We saw a difficult crack spread environment driven by a weakening in gasoline and diesel demand in the second quarter that drove our Adjusted EBITDA lower…The Company also continued to manage expenses, seeing moderate reductions in capital and fixed costs across the business…Given continued near-term EBITDA and liquidity constraints, the Company continues its pursuit of strategic pathways, considering alternatives and exploring financing pathways to maximize value. This includes working with our lenders to secure additional $15M and $20M loans in June and July, as well as naming Seth Bullock as our Chief Restructuring Officer…We are focused on navigating through the recent lower crack spreads and continue to believe that the decision and execution to convert the hydrocracking unit to conventional fuels will help us toward accomplishing our strategic priorities for the second half of 2024 and into 2025.”