Nov 3 (Reuters) - DuPont raised its annual profit forecasts on Tuesday and projected fourth-quarter earnings above Wall Street estimates, driven by strong demand in healthcare, aerospace and industrial water markets that boosted its third-quarter performance.
Shares of the industrial materials maker rose nearly 2% in premarket trading.
The company has been streamlining its portfolio and focusing on higher-growth end markets such as semiconductors, healthcare, water technologies and aerospace, while
returning cash to shareholders through share repurchases and divestitures.
DuPont had also increased prices to offset higher feedstock and energy costs, improved productivity and reduced debt to support earnings at a time when the global chemicals industry was grappling with weak demand in key end markets.
DuPont's solid third-quarter results show the company was able to raise prices to pass along cost inflation, while still driving margin expansion. The market is reacting to management's strong outlook, Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said.
The company raised its 2026 adjusted core profit outlook to nearly $1.79 billion, from its previous forecast range of $1.75 billion-$1.77 billion.
It now expects annual adjusted earnings of $7.47-$7.52 per share, compared with $7.17-$7.32 per share previously.
CFO Antonella Franzen said DuPont expected full-year results to come in at or above the high end of its prior guidance.
It concluded a $250 million accelerated share repurchase program and substantially completed $100 million of open-market share repurchases during the third quarter, DuPont said.
The company plans to repurchase an additional $250 million of shares in the fourth quarter.
Net sales at its healthcare and water technologies segment rose nearly 4% to $865 million from a year earlier, while sales at its diversified industrials segment increased 4.2% to more than $1 billion.
The company forecast current-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.90-$1.95 per share, above analysts' average estimate of $1.87 apiece, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont reported adjusted profit of $2.09 per share for the three months ended September 30, topping analysts' estimate of $1.87 per share.
(Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
