CF Industries Shares Tank After Weaker-than-expected Earnings

Shares of fertilizer maker CF Industries Holdings Inc. tumbled 14% Thursday to mark their biggest one-day decline in eight years, after the company's second-quarter profit fell way below expectations. CF said late Wednesday that it had net income of $47 million, or 20 cents a share, in the quarter, down from $352 million, or $1.49 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 33 cents a share, well below the FactSet consensus of 67 cents.Earnings were hurt by a $61 million realized loss on natural gas hedges and a $150 million merger termination payment to OCI N.V. Sales fell to $1.13 billion from $1.31 billion, weighed down by lower average selling prices across all segments. The company said it expects abundant nitrogen supply to continue to pressure pricing through 2017. The company is suspending its share buyback program to preserve cash. Shares are down 48% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained about 6%.