Monsanto (NYSE:MON) shares bombed as much as 8% on Wednesday after the company shaved its outlook for 2016 as a strong dollar, low seed prices and a merger of its rivals begin to bite.
The world’s largest seed company slashed its earnings forecast for the year as farmers curtailed spending.
Monsanto said it now expects full-year net earnings per share of $3.42-to-$4.29, down from its previous forecast of $4.00-to-$4.66. It now expects adjusted earnings per share of $4.40-to-$5.10, compared with the $5.10-to-$5.60 it had forecast in December.
About $0.25-to-$0.30 of the reduction in the earnings per share outlook is due to the impact of the stronger dollar, Monsanto said.
The ongoing merger between DuPont (NYSE:DD) and Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW.WD) also weighed on Monsanto. Both its rivals shares were lower by around 1%.
Monsanto said its cash flow forecast for the year is cut to $1.4bn-$1.6bn from $1.6bn-$1.8bn.
Monsanto shares were last seen down 7.2% at $85.85.