DuPont
stock was down in early trading after quarterly results showed that the global economy just isn’tgreat for industrial and materials companies. Things are still slowing down.
Wednesday, DuPont (ticker: DD) announced third-quarter earnings per share of 92 cents on sales of $3.1 billion. Wall Street had expected earnings per share of 84 cents on sales of $3.2 billion, according to FactSet. in the year-ago quarter, DuPont earned 82 cents per share on sales of $3.3 billion.
“We delivered solid third-quarter earnings despite ongoing volume headwinds from channel inventory destocking and continued softness in China,” said DuPont CEO Ed Breen in a news release.
Profit margins improved as sales dropped about 10% year over year on a comparable basis because of continuing weakness of clients in semiconductor and industrial businesses, and the impact of destocking, which is customers drawing from their inventories, and ordering fewer new products.
Looking ahead, DuPont expects full-year adjusted earnings per share of about $3.45 on sales of $12.2 billion. Sales guidance is a little lower than the second-quarter update, but earnings-per-share guidance is the same. The new year estimates imply fourth-quarter earnings per share of about 84 cents on sales of $3 billion. Wall Street is currently projecting fourth-quarter earnings per share of 91 cents on sales of $3.2 billion.
DuPont has beaten its own earnings guidance in the first three quarters of the year. Still, investors are spooked. DuPont stock was down 1.9% in premarket trading while
S&P 500
and
Dow Jones Industrial Average
futures were both off about 0.4%.
Coming into Wednesday trading, DuPont stock is up about 24% over the past 12 months.
Management hosts a conference call at 8 a.m. Eastern time to discuss results. Investors and analysts will be looking for clues about when business conditions will improve, and when growth will return.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
Read the full article here