DuPont de Nemours Inc (NYSE:DD, ETR:6D81) climbed almost 5% in early trading after the chemical firm unveiled expectation-beating earnings and lifted its dividend on Tuesday.
Adjusted earnings per share sat at US$0.87 for the fourth quarter of the year, Kevlar and Styrofoam brand owner DuPont reported on Tuesday, above FactSet consensus of US$0.85.
A first-quarter dividend of US$0.38 per share was also declared, up 6% quarter on quarter, alongside a new US$1 billion share buyback.
This follows a US$5 billion share repurchase programme, which was confirmed to have finished in Tuesday’s results.
“We continue to see demand stabilization within semiconductor technologies and interconnect solutions,” chief executive Ed Breen commented.
“We remain confident of a broad-based electronics materials recovery in 2024,” he added.
Breen did note incremental destocking within DuPont’s industrial-based businesses toward the end of the year, however, with wider economic woe and softness in China having taken its toll.
Net sales dipped 7% to US$12.07 billion over the year, while income from continuing operations fell 50% to US$533 million.
Adjusted free cash flow more than doubled to US$1.57 billion though, which Breen noted was aided by a strong fourth-quarter finish and underscored “ongoing prioritisation of working capital management”.
Shares jumped 5.7% to US$65.39 on Tuesday.