DuPont Earnings Muted by Sluggish Economic Growth
DuPont reported mixed third-quarter results after the market close on Monday, citing sluggish global economic growth.
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E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (NYSE: DD) reported its third-quarter results after the market close on Monday as $0.54 in earnings per share and $7.5 billion in revenue. That was against Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $0.53 in earnings per share and $7.95 billion in revenue. In the third-quarter of the previous year, DuPont had earnings of $0.45 per share and revenue of $7.74 billion.
The company gave guidance for the fourth quarter of a 20% growth in earnings, which would put it in-line with the previous fourth quarter’s earnings of $0.59 per share but below the consensus estimate of $0.70 per share. DuPont’s outlook on the full year falls in the range of $4.00 to $4.10 in earnings per share against a consensus estimate of $4.00.
Net income for the third quarter was $434 million, compared to the same period last year of $288 million.
The sales in only two segments grew in this quarter: Industrial Biosciences and Nutrition & Health. However the highest revenue for a segment came in at Performance Chemicals, which was $1.64 billion.
Across the global segments sales came in as:
- U.S. and Canada, $2.41 billion
- Europe, Middle East and Africa, $1.74 billion
- Asia Pacific, $1.95 billion
- Latin America, $1.40 billion
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DuPont Chair and CEO Ellen Kullman said:
In the third quarter, we improved our operating margins in five of seven segments and grew operating earnings per share 20 percent, despite a weaker Ag environment and sluggish economic growth in most of the world. Our increase in margins in a slow growth environment reflects the momentum we are building as we execute our plan, which is driving new products, portfolio enhancements and a broad initiative to redesign our operating model with a smaller cost base and a simplified support structure. We are positioning DuPont for our next stage of growth, while increasing returns to our shareholders.
On October 10, Jefferies upgraded DuPont to a Buy rating from Hold and raised its price target to $84 from $72.
Shares of Du Pont closed Monday down 1.6% at $67.88. Following the earnings report, the initial reaction in the premarket has been positive and shares were up less than 1% at $68.00.
The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $71.88 and a 52-week trading range of $59.35 to $72.92. The market cap is $62 billion.
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Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics. Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications. A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.