|
Dow to miss 2Q guidance
|
 |
June 29, 2001: 8:24 a.m. ET
Chemical firm sees EPS in forecast range; cites weak sales, prices
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Dow Chemical Co. warned Friday that low demand for its products hurt both sales volume and prices, leading it to miss its earlier guidance for the second quarter.
When the company reported first-quarter results April 26, it predicted earnings of 35 to 45 cents a share in the second quarter, but analysts had discounted that guidance some time ago. Earnings tracker First Call now puts the consensus EPS forecast at 33 cents, and the range of forecasts from 28 to 40 cents. The consensus EPS forecast for the second quarter was 38 cents at the time of the company's earlier guidance.
The company said it should come in within the current range of estimates, and that it should substantially beat first-quarter EPS excluding special items of 4 cents a share.
Chuck Hill, director of research for First Call, said given how long ago the earlier guidance was issued, it's not a surprise that the current range of forecasts is well below the company's previously stated range of earnings.
"It's not unusual when you have an industry or sector that's in free fall the way this one is, to have the analysts take the numbers down to a lower number than what the company's guidance was," Hill told CNNfn's Before Hours.
Click here for a look at manufacturing stocks
Dow, the nation's No. 2 chemical company behind DuPont Co. (DD: Research, Estimates), completed its $7.3 billion acquisition of Union Carbide Corp. earlier this year. But the combined companies have been faced with a period of not only soft industrial demand worldwide but also high prices for raw materials, particularly oil, since the merger.
The company said it will report results July 26. Shares of Dow (DOW: Research, Estimates) rose 5 cents to $34.04 Thursday. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dow Chemical Co.
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
