By Vallari Srivastava
(Reuters) – DuPont beat Wall Street expectations for first-quarter earnings on Friday and left its full-year profit outlook unchanged, although it warned of a hit from tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump has upended the global order through tariffs, forcing companies to assess the potential fallout from his chaotic trade policies.
DuPont expects tariffs to have a net cost impact of roughly $60 million, or 10 cents per share, primarily in the second half of the year.
“(We) are working on a number of tariff mitigation actions including production shifts, sourcing alternatives, surcharges and product exceptions,” CEO Lori Koch said.
DuPont continues to expect adjusted profit of $4.30 to $4.40 per share in 2025, excluding the potential tariff impact.
“For DuPont and its peers, the larger risk comes from a secondary impact from an economic slowdown as a result of tariffs,” Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said.
DuPont – which plans to spin off its electronics business, its biggest by revenue, by November 1 – reported its latest-quarter results under the new company structure.
Total sales grew 4.6% to $3.07 billion, beating expectations of $3.04 billion, per data compiled by LSEG, though they were partially offset by flat sales at the industrials segment, which will remain with DuPont post spinoff.
Net sales in the electronics segment rose to $1.12 billion from $984 million a year earlier, driven by AI technology applications and strong volumes in China.
Demand for semiconductors is booming due to the proliferation of AI-powered technology, benefiting companies such as DuPont, which supports advanced chip manufacturing, packaging and assembly processes.
For the current quarter, DuPont expects adjusted profit of $1.05 per share, which is slightly below expectations of $1.08 per share.
DuPont posted an adjusted profit of $1.03 per share for the three months ended March 31, compared with analysts’ estimates of 95 cents per share.
Shares of the company rose more than 1% in morning trade.
(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
