DuPont (DD) Up 31% in 6 Months: What's Behind the Rally?
Shares of DuPont de Nemours, Inc. DD have shot up 31.4% over the past six months. The company has also outperformed its industry’s rise of 8.5% over the same time frame. It has also topped the S&P 500’s roughly 1.6% rise over the same period.
Let’s take a look into the factors that are driving this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock.
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What’s Aiding DD?
DuPont is benefiting from healthy demand in several end markets, including water and general industrial. The company envisions sustained strength in water and automotive adhesives and stable demand across industrial end-markets including aerospace and healthcare products in 2023.
The company remains focused on driving growth though innovation and new product development. Its innovation-driven investment is focused on several high-growth areas. It remains committed to drive returns from its R&D investment.
The company is also managing its portfolio with an aim for value creation. It is divesting non-core assets to focus more on high-growth, high-margin businesses. DuPont completed the divestment of the majority of its Mobility & Materials unit to Celanese on Nov 1, 2022 as part of its ongoing transformation.
DuPont received $11 billion in gross cash from the transaction. The move is expected to boost its underlying performance, strengthen its balance sheet, maximize shareholders’ return and provide opportunities to grow business through targeted mergers and acquisitions.
The company also continues to implement strategic price increases in the wake of raw material and energy cost inflation. These actions are likely to support its results in 2023. DuPont is also benefiting from cost synergy savings and productivity improvement actions.
DuPont de Nemours, Inc. Price and Consensus
DuPont de Nemours, Inc. price-consensus-chart | DuPont de Nemours, Inc. Quote
Stocks to Consider
Better-ranked stocks worth considering in the basic materials space include Steel Dynamics, Inc. STLD, Olympic Steel, Inc. ZEUS and Nucor Corporation NUE.
Steel Dynamics currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for STLD's current-year earnings has been revised 26.4% upward in the past 60 days. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Steel Dynamics’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 11.3%, on average. STLD has gained around 28% in a year.
Olympic Steel currently sports a Zacks Rank #1. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ZEUS's current-year earnings has been revised 60.6% upward in the past 60 days.
Olympic Steel’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 26.2%, on average. ZEUS has rallied around 40% in a year.
Nucor currently carries a Zacks Rank #1. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NUE’s current-year earnings has been revised 10.7% upward in the past 60 days.
Nucor beat Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters. It delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.7% on average. NUE’s shares have gained roughly 3% in the past year.
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Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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Olympic Steel, Inc. (ZEUS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
