DowDuPont Inc. (NYSE: DWDP) released its fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday. The firm posted $0.88 in earnings per share (EPS) and $20.1 billion in revenue. Consensus estimates had called for $0.88 in EPS and revenue of $20.92 billion. In the same period of last year, the industrial giant said it had EPS of $0.81 and $20.07 billion in revenue.
During the quarter, DowDuPont achieved cost synergy savings of more than $500 million, and since the merger close has delivered more than $1.8 billion of cumulative savings.
The company returned $2.3 billion to shareholders in the quarter through dividends ($0.9 billion) and share repurchases ($1.4 billion). It intends to complete its remaining open share repurchases in the first quarter of 2019.
In terms of its segments, the firm reported as follows:
- Agriculture had net sales of $2.82 billion.
- Performance Materials & Coatings had net sales of $2.20 billion.
- Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure had net sales of $3.70 billion.
- Packaging & Specialty Plastics had net sales of $5.87 billion.
- Electronics & Imaging had net sales of $1.17 billion.
- Nutrition & Biosciences had net sales of $1.63 billion.
- Transportation & Advanced Polymers had net sales of $1.32 billion.
- Safety & Construction had net sales of $1.34 billion.
Looking ahead, management only talked about the separation of the company coming this summer and did not mention any numbers in the report. However, the consensus estimates call for $1.25 in EPS and $22.64 billion in revenue for the current quarter.
Ed Breen, CEO of DowDuPont, commented on the future of the company:
We remain on track for the separation of the new Dow on April 1, followed by Corteva from the new DuPont on June 1. We are excited about launching these three global companies, each set to be an industry leader with the right capital structure and now better positioned to serve customers, compete in their end markets and focus on their innovation priorities. We’ve also put in place strong leadership teams who are singularly focused on capitalizing on their competitive advantages and delivering on their substantial growth and cost synergy opportunities to create value both now and over the long-term.
Shares of DowDuPont closed Wednesday at $59.28, in a 52-week range of $48.89 to $76.00. The consensus price target is $72.63. Following the announcement, the stock was down over 8% at $54.35.
24/7 Wall St.The Average American Has No Idea How Much Money You Can Make Today (Sponsor)
The last few years made people forget how much banks and CD’s can pay. Meanwhile, interest rates have spiked and many can afford to pay you much more, but most are keeping yields low and hoping you won’t notice.
But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying almost 10x the national average! That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe and earn more at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 3.80% with a Checking & Savings Account today Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.
Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes to open an account to make your money work for you.
Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 4.00% with a Checking & Savings Account from Sofi. Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.