Company News
November 24, 2025
Future Foam Buys CA Plant
Foam Maker Buys $145M Fullerton Plant
By
Mark Mueller
October 27, 2025
158
An Iowa-based foam manufacturer has paid $145 million for a facility it operates out of in Fullerton, marking the priciest single-property industrial sale in Orange County this year.
Property records indicate that Future Foam, a Council Bluffs-based maker of a variety of flexible polyurethane foams used in bedding and other products, recently completed the purchase of 1050 S. State Blvd., a roughly 417,230-square-foot industrial building located at the corner of State College and Kimberly Avenue.
The manufacturer had previously been a tenant at the building, which was sold by another Iowa firm, Des Moines-based investment firm Principal Real Estate Investors.
The sale works out to be nearly $350 per square foot for the facility, which CoStar records indicate is located on a nearly 17-acre site that’s a few blocks from the intersection of the Riverside (91) and the Orange (57) freeways.
Owner-User Premium
By total price, the deal for the Fullerton facility marks the largest single-property industrial sale in OC in nearly three years, CoStar records indicate. The only other industrial building in the area to sell for more than $100 million in 2025 was 1501 E. Cerritos Ave., a roughly 407,000-square-foot building that’s about two miles east of Disneyland.
That two-building property was bought earlier this year by Walt Disney Co., which had already been leasing the site for its local operations. Disney paid $124 million, or about $305 per square foot, for the Cerritos Avenue site.
The second biggest owner-user transaction of the past quarter was the $30.7 million purchase of a newly built building in the airport area of Irvine, by Orange Bakery. The food maker paid a reported $567 per square foot for the 54,100-square-foot building along Cowan Avenue, located next to its current headquarters.
Connected Facilities
Future Foam traces back to the 1950s and counts a sizeable real estate presence in the U.S., with nearly 30 facilities to its name. Its presence in Fullerton goes back to the early 1980s.
Its only two Southern California locations are in Fullerton; it lists both the State College facility and an adjacent property at 2451 Cypress Way as being separate facilities with different specialties, though the buildings are connected and were both part of the $145 million sale.
Newmark’s Jeff Read represented principal in the sale, while the buyer was represented by Ashwill Associates.
The State College facility is used for manufacturing bedding, furniture and other products, according to the company’s website. The Cypress Way portion of the facility is used for carpet-cushion manufacturing.
The buyer took out a $40 million loan from First National Bank of Omaha to fund the deal, CoStar records indicate.
Vacancy Up, Rents Down
The sale comes amid signs of a slowing industrial market in OC.
The vacancy rate for OC industrial properties stood at 5.1% at the end of the third quarter, according to a recent report from commercial real estate brokerage Colliers. That’s up from 4.7% a quarter ago and is 1.6% higher than this point a year ago.
OC’s all-time lowest vacancy mark was 0.9%, set in late 2022, Colliers reports.
The uptick in vacancy comes as more supply is being added to the area, with nearly 700,000 square feet of new industrial buildings completed last quarter, and another 1.5 million square feet currently underway.
Monthly rents for industrial buildings now average about $1.51 per square foot, according to Colliers data. That’s 26 cents per square foot below the all-time high for the area, set in mid-2023.
Rents are still 57% higher than pre-pandemic levels, the brokerage reports.
November 19, 2025
BASF to License Technology
BASF PolyTHF® technology now available for licensing
BASF will start offering state-of-the-art polytetrahydrofuran (PolyTHF®) 1800 production technology licenses to clients and partners. As a global leader in PolyTHF technology development, BASF operates three major production sites worldwide: Caojing in China, Ludwigshafen in Germany, and Geismar in the United States.
Franky Ruslim, Vice President, Global Technology Head, Intermediates Business, BASF
“In today’s fiercely competitive world, innovation is no longer optional but essential. By opening our PolyTHF 1800 patented technology for licensing, we are committed to driving new growth in industries like textiles, reshaping collaboration models, and creating value for both our clients and BASF.”
Zhai Yabi, Strategic, Project & Licensing Director, Asia Pacific, Intermediates Business, BASF
“Licensing our proven technology provides an attractive value proposition to clients and partners in the market, allowing them to access innovation, reduce R&D costs, and accelerate time-to-market for quick wins.”
PolyTHF is a key raw material for producing spandex elastic fibers, widely used in swimwear, sportswear, underwear, shirts, and stretch jeans. The elastic fibers maintain long-lasting wearing comfort while also providing moisture resistance and antibacterial properties. PolyTHF® is a registered trademark of BASF.
https://www.ccfgroup.com/newscenter/newsview.php?Class_ID=600000&Info_ID=2025111930007
November 18, 2025
AkzoNobel and Axalta to Merge
AkzoNobel and Axalta to combine in all-stock merger of equals, creating a premier global coatings company
November 18, 2025
- Creates a global coatings leader with $17 billion in revenue and an enterprise value of $25 billion
- Significant value creation with approximately $600 million in cost synergies supporting strategic and capital allocation priorities
- Combines highly complementary portfolios across end markets, driving stronger revenue growth, enhanced profitability and increased value for customers
- Expands geographic reach, brings together world class technology and innovation platforms and offers a full spectrum of solutions to deliver exceptional value to customers
- Highly attractive financial profile featuring strong EBITDA margins and robust cash flow generation
- One‑tier Board to be led by current Axalta Chair Rakesh Sachdev as Chair; AkzoNobel CEO Greg Poux-Guillaume to serve as CEO of the combined company
- Combined company to transition to a single NYSE listing; dual headquarters in Amsterdam and Philadelphia and domiciled in the Netherlands
- Companies to host joint investor conference call on November 18 at 8.30am EST/ 2.30pm CET
Akzo Nobel N.V. (AKZA; AKZOY) (“AkzoNobel”) and Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) (“Axalta”) today announced they’ve entered into a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock merger of equals, creating a premier global coatings company with an enterprise value of approximately $25 billion.
The combination brings together two coatings industry leaders with complementary portfolios of highly regarded brands to better serve customers across key end markets and enhance value for shareholders, employees and other stakeholders. Anchored in both companies’ proud histories and broad expertise, the combined business will have a highly attractive financial profile, industry-leading innovation capabilities and a balanced global footprint spanning over 160 countries to bring global capabilities to local customers.
With attractive margins and robust cash flow generation, the combined company will be well positioned to drive substantial growth and shareholder value creation, building on 2024 revenues of approximately $17 billion and $1.5 billion in pro forma Adjusted Free Cash Flow.1,2,3The combination is expected to drive identified and actionable run-rate synergies of approximately $600 million, 90% of which are expected to be achieved within the first three years following the close of the transaction.
Greg Poux-Guillaume, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management of AkzoNobel:
“We’re excited to enter a new chapter in our long and proud history as a leader in the paints and coatings industry. This merger will allow us to accelerate our growth ambitions by bringing together highly complementary technologies, expertise and passionate people to unlock our full combined potential. I’m excited to lead our talented teams in bringing the best of both companies to our customers and shareholders, delivering outstanding value to both.”
Ben Noteboom, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AkzoNobel:
“This combination represents a compelling opportunity. It’s a great value proposition for all our stakeholders, both in the Netherlands – where we maintain our domicile – and internationally, including our shareholders, customers and employees. It will create a world leader in coatings and is a significant step that will drive sustainable growth and allow us to better serve our customers. By uniting two world class organizations, we’re creating a strong platform for the future, built on a solid foundation of shared values and heritage.”
Chris Villavarayan, CEO and President of Axalta:
“We are pleased to enter into this transaction with AkzoNobel and join our best-in-class platforms to enhance innovation, develop new capabilities and further strengthen customer relationships. As our industry continues to grow and evolve, this combination with AkzoNobel enables us to do the same, with a sharper competitive edge and new avenues and opportunities for growth. Together, AkzoNobel and Axalta are positioned to establish a profitable and sustainable path forward as a leader in the coatings industry. Like AkzoNobel, we value our people as our greatest asset, and we are excited to unite our rich, innovation-focused cultures.”
Rakesh Sachdev, Chair of the Axalta Board of Directors:
“The Axalta Board is confident that this combination with AkzoNobel will create significant value for our shareholders as we move ahead. Led by an experienced management team with a track record of operational efficiency and excellence, we expect the meaningful synergy opportunities and enhanced financial profile of the combined company will drive substantial value creation. We look forward to joining Axalta’s and AkzoNobel’s strengths to create new opportunities across our global stakeholder base.”
Compelling strategic and financial benefits of the transaction
- Diversified and balanced portfolio of leading brands. The merger brings together AkzoNobel’s and Axalta’s complementary portfolios to create a full spectrum offering of coatings solutions, with first-rate franchises across Powder, Aerospace, Refinish, Mobility, Marine and Protective, Industrial Coatings and Decorative Paints. The combined portfolio will be differentiated by its breadth of solutions across approximately 100 well-known brands
- Increased geographic scale and enhanced commercial reach. The combined company will have an enhanced global footprint spanning 173 manufacturing sites and 91 R&D facilities worldwide, enabling it to bring global capabilities to local customers. Through increased local presence in key geographies, AkzoNobel and Axalta customers are expected to benefit from deep channel access to coatings and product support, further strengthening customer relationships
- Enhanced capabilities to deliver customer-centric innovation. The combination will enable AkzoNobel and Axalta to deliver increasingly advanced and differentiated products by combining existing technological capabilities across end markets. Joining Axalta’s Refinish, Light Vehicle and Commercial and Industrial Coatings businesses with AkzoNobel’s Powder Coatings, Refinish, Aerospace Coatings, Marine and Protective Coatings, Industrial Coatings and Decorative Paints businesses will create an innovative platform to deliver exceptional value to customers. In addition, sharing best practices across two leading research platforms in the coatings space is expected to accelerate high-value innovation. The combined company will have approximately $400 million combined annual R&D spend, 91 R&D facilities for local customer needs, approximately 4,200 research fellows, scientists and engineers, and around 3,200 granted and pending patent applications
- Substantial synergy opportunities driving value creation. The combination is expected to generate pre-tax run-rate synergies of approximately $600 million, with 90% of synergies expected to be achieved within the first three years following the close of the transaction. The targeted synergies are identified and actionable, arising primarily from procurement, SG&A efficiencies, footprint optimization and improved supply chain management
- Highly attractive financial profile with strong margins and substantial cash flow generation. Inclusive of run-rate synergies, the combined company is expected to have industry-leading profitability with strong Adjusted EBITDA margins approaching 20%1 and substantial cash flow generation. Revenues are expected to be approximately $17 billion, with Adjusted EBITDA of $3.3 billion and pro forma Adjusted Free Cash Flow of $1.5 billion. This will provide significant flexibility to support strategic and capital allocation priorities, including consistent capital returns through a regular dividend. Net leverage is targeted to be 2.0x to 2.5x, with a strong commitment to holding an investment grade credit rating
Leadership, corporate governance and headquarters
Upon closing, the combined company will have a one-tier Board, led by Rakesh Sachdev, current Chair of the Axalta Board of Directors. Ben Noteboom, current Chairman of the AkzoNobel Supervisory Board, will serve as Vice-Chair. The Board will be composed of 11 directors – four from each company and three independent members. Of the 11 Board members, two will be executive directors and nine will be non-executive directors. Each company expects to hold its respective Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders tentatively in mid-2026.
Current AkzoNobel CEO, Greg Poux-Guillaume, will serve as CEO of the combined company, and current Axalta CEO, Chris Villavarayan, will serve as Deputy CEO. Current Axalta SVP and CFO, Carl Anderson, will serve as the CFO of the combined company. Current AkzoNobel CFO, Maarten de Vries, will retire from AkzoNobel prior to closing as previously announced.
The combined company will assume a new name and ticker symbol, which will be announced in due course, and will have dual headquarters in Amsterdam and Philadelphia. It will be organized under a Dutch holding company with tax residency in the Netherlands. Following a period of dual listing on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), shares of the combined company’s common stock will be listed solely on NYSE.
Transaction details
Under the terms of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the AkzoNobel Supervisory Board, the AkzoNobel Board of Management and the Axalta Board of Directors, Axalta shareholders will receive 0.6539 shares of AkzoNobel stock for each share of Axalta common stock owned.
In connection with the transaction, AkzoNobel will pay a special cash dividend to AkzoNobel shareholders equal to €2.5 billion minusthe aggregate amount of any regular annual and interim dividends paid by AkzoNobel to AkzoNobel shareholders in 2026 prior to completion. AkzoNobel shareholders will own 55% and Axalta shareholders will own 45% of the combined company on a pro forma basis immediately after closing.
The companies expect the transaction to close in late 2026 to early 2027, subject to approval by shareholders of both AkzoNobel and Axalta, the receipt of requisite regulatory approvals, authorization for the combined company’s shares to be listed on NYSE, payment of the special dividend by AkzoNobel, completion of AkzoNobel’s works council consultation requirements and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
Dividends and share buybacks between signing and close
In light of the announced transaction, both AkzoNobel and Axalta have agreed to suspend any ongoing or announced share buyback programs, effective immediately.
AkzoNobel intends to continue paying regular ordinary dividends in line with its existing dividend policy through closing, subject to customary approvals and applicable legal requirements. No extraordinary or additional distributions are expected from either company prior to completion, other than AkzoNobel’s special dividend pursuant to the transaction terms.
Advisors
Morgan Stanley & Co International plc is serving as sole financial advisor, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek N.V. and Davis Polk are serving as legal counsel, and FGS Global is serving as strategic communications advisor to AkzoNobel. In addition, Lazard B.V. and Wakkie+Perrick are acting as financial and legal advisors, respectively, to the AkzoNobel Supervisory Board.
Evercore and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as co-lead financial advisors to Axalta. Incentrum Group is also providing financial advice. Additionally, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and NautaDutilh N.V. are serving as legal counsel, and Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher is serving as strategic communications advisor to Axalta.
Conference call and additional materials
AkzoNobel and Axalta will host a joint investor conference call today at 8.30am EST/2:30pm CET to discuss the transaction.
The conference call will be available via live webcast on the investor relations section of each company’s website at https://www.akzonobel.com/en/investors/events and https://ir.axalta.com, or directly at the following web address: https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=V5nvvQdI. Associated presentation materials will also be available for viewing on the respective websites prior to the call.
The conference call can also be accessed by dialing +1 (877) 407 4177 within the US. International numbers can access the conference call by dialing +1 (201) 689 8325 or by clicking here. An archive of the webcast will be available for one week.
About AkzoNobel
Since 1792, we’ve been supplying the innovative paints and coatings that help to color people’s lives and protect what matters most. Our world class portfolio of brands – including Dulux, International, Sikkens and Interpon – is trusted by customers around the globe. We’re active in more than 150 countries and use our expertise to sustain and enhance everyday life. Because we believe every surface is an opportunity. It’s what you’d expect from a pioneering and long-established paints company that’s dedicated to providing more sustainable solutions and preserving the best of what we have today – while creating an even better tomorrow. Let’s paint the future together.
About Axalta Coating Systems
Axalta is a global leader in the coatings industry, providing customers with innovative, colorful, beautiful and sustainable coatings solutions. From light vehicles, commercial vehicles and refinish applications to electric motors, building facades and other industrial applications, our coatings are designed to prevent corrosion, increase productivity and enhance durability. With more than 150 years of experience in the coatings industry, the global team at Axalta continues to find ways to serve our more than 100,000 customers in over 140 countries better every day with the finest coatings, application systems and technology. For more information visit axalta.com and follow us @axalta on X.
November 17, 2025
Adnoc Gets Conditional Approval for Covestro Acquisition
Adnoc’s €11.7B Covestro deal wins conditional E.U. approval
Nov. 14, 2025 9:55 AM ETCovestro AG (CVVTF) Stock, COVTY StockBy: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
The European Union’s competition regulator said Friday it conditionally cleared Abu Dhabi’s state oil company ADNOC for its €11.7 billion (~$13.6 billion) bid for German chemical company Covestro (OTCPK:CVVTF) (OTCPK:COVTY).
The European Commission said ADNOC’s offer to maintain Covestro’s (OTCPK:CVVTF) (OTCPK:COVTY) intellectual property in Europe as well as concessions on the company’s unlimited state guarantee from the U.A.E. settled its earlier concerns that its state subsidies could stifle competition.
The deal, one of the largest foreign takeovers of an E.U. company by a Persian Gulf state, has prompted concerns that ADNOC may be using state subsidies to acquire Covestro (OTCPK:CVVTF) (OTCPK:COVTY); an in-depth investigation began earlier this year under relatively new legislation designed to tackle what European officials see as distorting subsidies from foreign governments.
November 12, 2025
Urethane Highlights from Somnigroup Call
Somnigroup International Inc. (SGI) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Nov. 06, 2025 11:26 AM ETSomnigroup International Inc. (SGI) StockSGI
Q3: 2025-11-06 Earnings Summary
EPS of $0.95 beats by $0.09
| Revenue of $2.12B (63.28% Y/Y) beats by $61.27M
Somnigroup International Inc. (SGI) Q3 2025 Earnings Call November 6, 2025 8:00 AM EST
Company Participants
Aubrey Moore – Vice President of Investor Relations
Scott Thompson – Chairman of the Board, CEO, President & Interim CEO of Mattress Firm
Bhaskar Rao
Scott Thompson
Chairman of the Board, CEO, President & Interim CEO of Mattress Firm
Good morning, and thank you for joining us on our third quarter 2025 earnings call. I’m pleased to share with you that Somnigroup International delivered a record quarter across nearly all key operating metrics. These results were driven by the early benefits from the Mattress Firm combination and successful execution of our key operating initiatives. Importantly, we achieved this strong financial performance while the U.S. bedding market remains basically flat from a sales perspective, and it is still at trough levels, while the U.S. housing market is yet to recover and international markets continue to face numerous challenges. Additionally, we have not fully realized all of the benefits from the Mattress Firm combination.
This backdrop underscores the potential of our business, the strength of our competitive position and the meaningful opportunity ahead as our markets improve and we continue to deploy capital and optimize our vertical structure. In the third quarter of 2025, we’re pleased to achieve record net sales, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS. Net sales were up approximately 63% to $2.1 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was up approximately 52% to $419 million, and adjusted EPS was up approximately 16% and to $0.95 per share. Now turning to some highlights for the third quarter.
First highlight. Our aggregate like-for-like sales growth was 5% over the same period last year, led by strong performance in our international operations, which I’ll discuss in a minute. Tempur Sealy North America reported 5% like-for-like sales growth which is the strongest quarterly sales trend in 9 quarters. This performance was broad-based across our portfolio and price points as we significantly increased our balance of share at Mattress Firm and experienced growth with our other third-party retailers. Both Tempur-Pedic and Sealy brands reported solid growth in the quarter, driven by our new Sealy Posturepedic products and our strong commitment to advertising, including over $110 million invested in the third quarter to keep our brands top of mind and drive valuable customer traffic to all retailers. Our collaborative marketing approach focused on delivering high-quality, brand-centric advertising to retail partners continues to drive strong results for us and the industry. Retailers who have actively participated in our brand activation program have seen a significant boost in sales of Tempur-Pedic and Sealy products. In short, we continue to win in the market with great product, robust advertising and a dedicated sales force to help our customers improve their business.
Second highlight. Mattress Firm continues to outperform the market, reporting strong same-store sales growth of 5% in the quarter. The strong third quarter performance was possible due to our relentless focus on delivering superior in-store execution and equipping our sleep experts with the tools and training they need to meet the customers’ sleep needs. Further, we continue to invest in consumer experience for our store refresh program, including installing Tempur brand walls to support increased customer engagement and education. Where placed, Tempur brand walls have shown to drive higher retail tickets resulting in strong return on investment. We began scaling this initiative in the back half of the quarter and expect to finish rolling it out to all 2,200 store locations nationwide by the end of next year. Other retailers have also taken part in this program as we are committed to an omnichannel approach.
Additionally, we are ramping up our previously disclosed 3-year program to invest a total of $150 million between 2025 and 2027 to refresh certain Mattress Firm stores, ensuring all locations meet our brand standards. Third highlight, our international business continues to deliver impressive sales growth despite a challenging operating environment. Our Tempur International sales grew 11% in the quarter and continued to outperform the market by a solid clip, driven by the refreshed Tempur product lineup, expanded distribution. Strong local execution, combined with meaningful investments in advertising that significantly boost brand visibility, consumer engagement, resulted in this double-digit performance.
We continue to refine our late-stage customization manufacturing process to support this momentum. This approach allows us to efficiently tailor products for specific markets, channels and customer segments. With a solid foundation and significant long-term potential, we are confident in the growth trajectory of our Tempur international operations. Dreams, our U.K.-based bedding retailer also delivered strong quarterly market outperformance, driven by same-store sales growth and new store openings. Dreams continues to drive cost efficiencies, advance strategic growth initiatives and deliver exceptional product quality and industry-leading customer satisfaction.
Our final highlight is related to the progress on our sales and cost synergy initiatives following the combination of Mattress Firm. Mattress Firm is focused on retailing high-quality products with differentiated innovation at all price points, while driving industry demand with market-leading advertising investments. On synergies, we are ahead of our expectations in achieving a more market-driven distribution of Tempur Sealy brands and private label products at Mattress Firm. We now expect Tempur Sealy to represent a mid-50% of Mattress Firm’s total sales in 2025, up from our previous estimate of below 50%. In total, we now expect sales synergies to result in $60 million of benefit to adjusted EBITDA this year.
Looking to 2026, we expect an incremental $40 million of EBITDA benefit from the wraparound impact of these share gains and is on track to comfortably achieve our targeted $100 million of run rate sales synergies. As a reminder, we held Mattress Firm sales flat in estimating the balance of share opportunity. As the U.S. bedding industry recovers and Mattress Firm sales increase, we expect the dollar synergies to grow. Our increased scale and vertical integrated operations are unlocking efficiencies throughout manufacturing, logistics and sourcing. Additionally, improved insights into in-consumer demand patterns is enabling us to optimize production, upcoming product introductions and product end-of-life strategies. We remain on pace to achieve a minimum of $100 million in annual run rate net cost synergies, beginning with $15 million projected for 2025, an incremental $50 million in 2026 and a further $35 million in 2027.
Long term, we’re excited about the potential to align Tempur Sealy and Mattress Firm’s messaging to increase our advertising efficiency, an opportunity which is not yet quantified in our cost synergy targets. Today, as a unified Somnigroup entity, we are positioned to deliver more cohesive, high-impact advertising to support both our brands and the broader U.S. bedding market. Our new Mattress Firm advertising campaign, Sleep Easy, launched mid-third quarter, aligns our messaging with a cohesive voice. The campaign educates consumers on the importance of a well-suited mattress for restorative sleep and activates them to take the next step in their purchase journey. It highlights some of the most common impacted sleep disruptors and shows how certain products and Mattress Firm’s sleep experts can effectively address these important sleep issues.
We’re very encouraged by the strong consumer response to Sleep Easy campaign. Initial research identified it as the highest performing campaign in Mattress Firm’s recent history across all metrics. Subsequent studies have reinforced this finding, showing the campaign significantly outperformed both industry benchmarks and Mattress Firm’s previous messaging. Although it’s still early in the campaign’s rollout, we are confident that we are on the right path. We expect the positive impact to grow as the campaign becomes more established in the marketplace. Overall, we are pleased with the rapid progress in both sales and cost synergy efforts and remain excited about the long-term opportunities for retail customers, Somnigroup employees and shareholders.
Susan Maklari
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division
I want to talk about demand. It’s interesting to see how it sounds like the industry is starting to come back a bit and that’s really counter to what we’ve seen in the housing market, but also just what we’re hearing in terms of housing and consumer-related categories broadly. Can you talk about what is driving the relative divergence that we’re seeing in bedding and how much of it do you think is attributable to the efforts that you’ve put in over the last several months and years around new products, more recently, some of the ad spend and the initiatives there. And how we should think about the sustainability of it, just given the macro and the environment that we’re in?
Scott Thompson
Chairman of the Board, CEO, President & Interim CEO of Mattress Firm
Thank you for your question, Susan. All 12 of them that you wound into one. First of all, I think we’ve talked about this before. Look, the housing market can be a headwind or a tailwind for the bedding industry. But we’ve always thought of it as it’s in the top 5 items that we think about, but it’s certainly not the first or second. And I think the point you make in your question is exactly right. The bedding industry can be successful without the housing market necessarily be turning around. And we’ve always thought about in the bedding industry, what drives the bedding industry, of course, is innovation. And clearly, the new Sealy Posturepedic product that came out this summer is helping us, Mattress Firm and the industry.
It’s also — the other thing we think that drives the industry is advertising. And you know that we’ve completely retooled we’ll call it the advertising at Mattress Firm, and Mattress Firm is the leading advertiser in the U.S. by a factor of 2 and we’ve changed their creative and we’ve changed the placement and some of the strategies there. And we’re seeing benefits again for us and for the industry. For the first time in, I think, probably 15 or 20 years, we had direct advertising coming out of Tempur Sealy on the Sealy brand in support of the new Sealy product. That certainly has been incremental. And then the other things we watch obviously are consumer confidence. And it hasn’t been robust, but at least it hasn’t been negative. So when we look forward, certainly, we’re hoping for lower interest rates. And I think if you put a 5 handle, on the 30 year, you might get quite a bit of activity in housing and probably furniture and bedding.
We’re getting close. We’re a low 6. But we can be successful without the housing market turning around and it does feel like if you look at the numbers in the industry, you can’t get perfect industry numbers. But there’s no question the industry, I think step — had a good step forward from the second quarter. So sequentially, certainly improved. I think we’re calling it somewhere close to flat from a sales standpoint. And then as expected and as designed, we performed better than the marketplace, and you can see that in our numbers. I think one of the things that I really focused on this quarter was when I take a look back, in the first quarter, we delivered basically flat EPS, adjusted EPS. In the second quarter, we were down 16%, had some launch costs in there. And then we delivered quarter-to-date at plus 16%. And obviously, people can squeeze out what the implied fourth quarter is, and we’ll call that 15% to 20%.
So you can see the momentum as the industry has gotten slightly better. We have implemented some of our strategies, and we’re getting the synergies both in sales and costs from Mattress Firm acquisition.
Everchem Updates Archive 
Sign Up for Email Updates