: DuPont’s stock up 1.3% premarket as earnings beat offsets mixed guidance

DuPont de Nemours Inc.’s stock DD rose 1.3% premarket Wednesday, after the chemicals company topped forecasts for its second quarter earnings, although its guidance was mixed. The Wilmington, Del.-based company had a net loss of $131 million, or 84 cents a share, for the quarter, after income of $787 million, or 85 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 85 cents, ahead of the 83 cent FactSet consensus. Sales fell to $3.094 billion from $3.322 billion a year ago, but were ahead of the $3.026 billion FactSet consensus. “Our results continue to be impacted by the ongoing softness in consumer-driven businesses primarily within electronics, however, we did see sequential sales improvement in our Interconnect Solutions business during the second quarter,” Chief Executive Ed Breen said in a statement. The numbers were also weighed down by softness in construction end-markets, partially offset by strength in water, auto and in industrial end-markets such as aerospace and healthcare. The company is now expecting third-quarter adjusted EPS of 84 cents on revenue of $3.150 billion. The FactSet consensus is for EPS of 93 cents and sales of $3.195 billion. For the full year, it expects EPS of $3.40 to $3.50 on sales of $12.450 billion to $12.550 billion. The FactSet consensus is for EPS of $3.58 and sales of $12.414 billion. The stock has gained 12% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 19%.

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