DuPont Beats Third-Quarter Estimates and Raises Full-Year Guidance Again

DuPont de Nemours beat third-quarter estimates on Tuesday, reporting adjusted earnings of $2.09 a share as healthcare and water demand held up.

DuPont is the Wilmington, Delaware materials maker behind brands used in healthcare, water treatment, construction and industry. It reports on a continuing-operations basis. That means the results exclude the electronics business it spun off as Qnity in November 2025.

The company now runs two segments. Healthcare & Water Technologies sells medical packaging, personal protection and water-treatment products. Diversified Industrials covers building materials and industrial technologies, including aerospace and electric-vehicle battery uses.

Third-quarter results beat estimates

Net sales rose 4 percent to $1.87 billion in the quarter ended September 30. Organic sales, which strip out currency and portfolio changes, rose 5 percent. Currency was a 1 percent headwind, the company said.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected sales of $1.84 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. The reported figure was about 1.5 percent above that estimate. That percentage is a TickerGrove calculation from the reported sales and the FactSet estimate.

Adjusted earnings per share were $2.09, up 62 percent from $1.29 a year earlier. Adjusted earnings exclude one-time items the company treats as significant. Analysts expected $1.87 a share, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.

The earnings beat was about 11.8 percent, again a TickerGrove calculation. Operating EBITDA, a company core-earnings measure, rose 8 percent to $469 million. Its margin widened to 25.1 percent of sales, from 24.3 percent.

On a GAAP basis, the standard accounting measure, income from continuing operations was $171 million. GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations were $1.24. That compared with $0.70 a year earlier, a rise of 77 percent.

Both segments grew, and both margins widened

Healthcare & Water Technologies sales rose 4 percent to $865 million, all of it organic growth. Healthcare sales rose by a mid-single-digit percentage, led by personal protection and medical packaging. Water sales rose by a low-single-digit percentage on industrial water strength.

The segment's operating EBITDA rose 7 percent to $263 million. Its margin reached 30.4 percent, up from 29.6 percent a year earlier. Middle East disruptions partly offset the water gains, the company said.

Diversified Industrials sales rose 4 percent to $1 billion, with organic growth of 5 percent. Building Technologies sales rose by a mid-single-digit percentage in North America and Asia. Industrial Technologies also rose by a mid-single-digit percentage, on aerospace and battery demand.

That segment's operating EBITDA rose 11 percent to $242 million. Its margin reached 24.1 percent, up from 22.7 percent. Both segments grew operating earnings faster than sales, which is the operating leverage management pointed to.

“Mid-single-digit organic growth, strong operating leverage and disciplined capital allocation drove significant adjusted EPS growth,” chief executive Lori Koch said. She also cited free cash flow conversion of 121 percent as evidence of earnings quality.

Guidance raised for the year and the fourth quarter

For the full year, DuPont now expects adjusted earnings of $7.47 to $7.52 a share. Its previous range was $7.17 to $7.32, Reuters reported. Net sales are expected at about $7.19 billion, or $7.19 billion in the company's table.

Full-year operating EBITDA is expected at about $1.79 billion. Reuters put the previous forecast range at $1.75 billion to $1.77 billion. Organic sales growth for the year is now expected at about 4.5 percent.

“Our results once again exceeded our financial expectations,” chief financial officer Antonella Franzen said. She said the new outlook sits at or above the high end of the previous guidance on every measure.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings of $1.90 to $1.95 a share. Analysts expected $1.87, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. Fourth-quarter sales are expected at about $1.83 billion and operating EBITDA at about $455 million.

These are announced forecasts, not reported results. The full-year figures will only be settled when DuPont reports fourth-quarter results early next year.

Cash flow funded another round of buybacks

Cash from operating activities in continuing operations was $410 million in the quarter. Capital spending was $71 million. Transaction-adjusted free cash flow, which adds back separation-related payments, was $341 million, or 121 percent conversion.

DuPont completed a $250 million accelerated share repurchase in the quarter. An accelerated repurchase is a bulk buyback settled quickly with a bank. It also substantially completed $100 million of open-market repurchases.

The company said it intends to repurchase another $250 million of shares in the fourth quarter. That is an announced intention, not a completed purchase. Buybacks reduce the share count, which lifts earnings per share.

Barron's reported the stock rose 2.5 percent in premarket trading on Tuesday to $144.76. That was before the market opened, with index futures lower. It is the only market reaction carried here, and it is a premarket reading, not a close.

What remains unknown

What remains unknown starts with delivery. The raised guidance assumes healthcare, aerospace and industrial water demand holds through the fourth quarter. The release does not break out how much of the earnings beat came from price, volume or mix.

The Middle East disruption in water is also unquantified. DuPont did not say when it expects that drag to clear. Nor did it detail the fourth-quarter buyback's timing or settlement terms.

What to watch next

What to watch next is whether the fourth quarter lands inside the new ranges. Adjusted earnings of $1.90 to $1.95 a share is the first test. The $250 million fourth-quarter repurchase should also show up in the next report.

Watch the two margins, too. Healthcare & Water at 30.4 percent and Diversified Industrials at 24.1 percent set the bar. And watch whether organic growth holds near the 4.5 percent full-year pace management now expects.