UPDATE: Dow Chemical Posts Higher Q2 Sales

The Dow Chemical Company

reported a 60% drop in its second-quarter earnings. The Midland, Michigan-based company posted a quarterly profit of $967 million, or $0.73 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $2.43 billion, or $1.87 per share Results in the year-ago period reflect the receipt of the K-Dow arbitration resolution. Excluding special items, its earnings rose to $0.74 per share from $0.64 per share. Its revenue surged 2.3% to $14.92 billion. However, analysts were projecting a profit of $0.72 per share on revenue of $14.82 billion. The company's electronic and functional materials segment revenue rose 5% to $1.2 billion, while revenue in its performance plastics segment rose around 2% to $3.75 billion. Sales in its coatings and infrastructure solutions rose around 3% to nearly $2 billion, while sales in agricultural sciences segment gained about 3% to $1.91 billion. Andrew N. Liveris, Dow's chairman and chief executive officer said, “Our results reflect excellent progress against Dow's near-term priorities, and clearly illustrate our ongoing drive to execute self-help actions that are delivering growth on both the top and bottom line.” Dow Chemical shares gained 1.72% to $53.20 in pre-market trading.