Dupont Lowers Q2 Forecast, Blames The Rain

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Companies always like excuses for disappointing the street, that would not be news. Goldman basically compiles a list of all the S&P 500 company earnings and what impacted them (see the list for Q1 2013 earnings here).  Now we have a quite humorous one which will hopefully make the Q2 list. This morning E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD) lowered its outlook for Q2 and 2013E citing the impact from unseasonably cool, wet weather across North America and Europe on its Ag & Nutrition & Health segments’ Q2 results. Dupont’s guidance implies Q2E of $1.27 (vs. consensus of $1.35).

Dupont Lowers Q2 Forecast, Blames The Rain

Dupont Lower Outlook

The lower outlook reflects unseasonably cold and wet weather across North America and Europe impacting E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD)’s Agriculture and Nutrition & Health segments. DD noted “March to May 2013 has been the wettest spring in nearly 120 years across the farm belt states of Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.”

DuPont is the latest chemical company to trim expectations. Whereas other companies have focused on softer than expected trends in the EU, Asia, and South America, Dupont based the lowered outlook on tough US comparisons exacerbated by adverse weather. The bridge to 2H performance will be a key issue on the upcoming earnings call.

… But 2H intact: Assuming 2013E of $3.85 (consistent with its updated guidance) implies 2H13E EPS of $1.02 compared with $0.54 in 2H12 on a comparable basis. This implies 89% YoY growth in 2H which compares to 22% based on consensus estimates for the overall sector.

DuPont’s outlook comments

The cut in context: DuPont’s outlook comments ascribe the recent weakness primarily to the swing from unseasonably warm to unusually cool weather. The company continues to expect an acceleration in the global industrial environment in 2H13.

Citigroup research notes (they seem to have taken the bait):

Interestingly, E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD) cited weakness in Ag, but did not mention other businesses. Cool, wet weather in the US has negative implications for other companies with considerable Ag exposure including CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF), Mosaic Co (NYSE:MOS), Potash Corp./Saskatchewan (NYSE:POT), Agrium Inc. (NYSE:AGU) and TAM. Companies exposed to construction could also be impacted by weather, including Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW), PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG), The Valspar Corporation (NYSE:VAL), Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) and Axiall Corp (NYSE:AXLL).

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