Separating from DowDuPont, Dow is on its own again

Dow completed its separation from DowDuPont on April 1. DowDuPont shareholders received one share of Dow for every three they own of DowDuPont. The company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under its old ticker symbol, DOW, and closed at $53.50 per share on April 2. “The new Dow is a more focused and streamlined company with a clear playbook to deliver long-term earnings growth and value creation,” CEO Jim Fitterling says. DowDuPont is scheduled to further split into DuPont and Corteva Agriscience on June 1. The new company is beginning life in turbulent waters. DowDuPont announced that sales for its materials science division, which turned into the new Dow, are expected to decline in the “low-teens” percent in the first quarter versus the year-ago period. Pretax profits will decline more than 20%. Meanwhile, Corteva management also expects to see a sales decline owing to midwestern flooding.