DuPont Shares Climb 2% Premarket After Earnings Beat Views

Shares of DuPont & Co. climbed 2.1% in thin premarket trade on Tuesday after the chemicals giant posted earnings and sales ahead of forecasts. For the first quarter, DuPont earned $1.11 billion, or $1.27 a share, down from $1.23 billion, or $1.39 a share, in the year-ago period. However, on an adjusted basis, profit rose to $1.64 a share from $1.26 last year, beating a FactSet forecast of $1.38. Revenue rose to $7.74 billion from $7.41 billion, also ahead of the $7.50 billion estimate. DuPont said its first-half earnings for 2017 will include an expected charge of 32 cents a share due to costs associated with the planned merger with Dow Chemical Co. . "We continue to expect to close the merger in August of this year and quickly begin working on the 500-plus projects already identified to deliver the targeted $3 billion in cost synergies," said Ed Breen, DuPont's chairman and CEO, in the earnings statement.