Shares of DuPont de Nemours Inc. rose 0.9% in premarket trading Tuesday after the specialty materials, chemicals and agricultural products company reported first-quarter profit and sales that beat expectations, with all of its business segments showing growth, and raised its full-year outlook. The company swung to net income of $5.39 billion, or $8.90 a share, from a loss of $616 million, or 83 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Earnings per share excluding discontinued operations was 89 cents, and adjusted EPS excluding nonrecurring items was 91 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 75 cents. Sales rose 8.3% to $3.98 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $3.85 billion. “As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, the leading positions we hold in semiconductor, smartphones, automotive, water filtration, and residential construction end-markets enabled us to deliver strong first quarter results ahead of expectations with organic sales growth in all three reporting segments,” said Chief Executive Ed Breen. For 2021, the company raised its adjusted EPS guidance range to $3.60 to $3.75 from $3.30 to $3.45 and its sales guidance to $15.7 billion to $15.9 billion from $15.4 billion to $15.6 billion. The stock has gained 10.1% year to date, while the S&P 500 has advanced 11.6%.
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