DuPont announced better-than-expected financial results in the first quarter, ending March 31.
Net income and sales fell from the same period a year ago, but exceeded Zacks consensus estimate.
DuPont and other companies in the materials and chemical industries have been struggling with customers “destocking” inventories for reasons that range from slower business conditions to improvements in the supply chain following the Covid pandemic.
The company also reported an improvement in cash flow.
“First quarter 2024 financial results exceeded our expectations driven by better-than-expected volumes
along with a continued focus by our teams on operational execution and cost discipline,” said Ed Breen,
DuPont CEO. “The first quarter was encouraging as the electronics market saw continued recovery, demonstrated by 11 percent year-over-year volume growth in Semiconductor Technologies and another quarter of volume growth in Interconnect Solutions. Channel inventory destocking within our industrial-based businesses has bottomed and assumed recovery timing
is on track with our previous expectations. In addition, we delivered significant year-over-year cash flow
improvement during the first quarter driven by our continued focus on working capital improvement.”
DuPont, based near Wilmington, has shed many businesses over the years and now sits in the middle of the Fortune 500 rankings after once being one of the nation’s largest companies.
