Chemical substances maker Dow introduced that it’ll minimize round 4,500 roles, or 13% of the corporate’s whole workforce, beneath a sweeping restructuring aimed toward boosting profitability by at the least $2 billion, Reuters reported.
The corporate additionally forecasted its first-quarter income beneath market expectations, citing persistently weak demand circumstances that proceed to weigh on gross sales.
The layoff announcement comes at a time when a number of world chemical producers are reassessing their methods amid sluggish demand, rising manufacturing prices in Europe, altering regulatory necessities and chronic oversupply internationally.
Shares of the corporate fell round 3% in premarket buying and selling on Thursday, reflecting investor issues over the corporate’s tender demand outlook and cautious income forecast.
Dow critiques possession of non-core property throughout the globe
Dow, which started a strategic assessment of some European property in 2024, has additionally been re-evaluating its possession of non-core property throughout its world portfolio, together with energy and steam manufacturing and pipelines.
In 2025, the corporate finalised a 40% stake sale in some US Gulf Coast infrastructure property to a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Administration for $2.4 billion, in order that it might proceed to focus extra on its chemical compounds enterprise. Later, it additionally bought an extra stake for $540 million in September final yr.
“In 2025, we achieved nicely over half of our greater than $6.5 billion in near-term money and value assist actions, together with the accelerated supply of greater than $400 million in value financial savings from our $1 billion program,” CEO Jim Fitterling was quoted as saying by the information company.
Dow operates manufacturing websites in 29 international locations and employs about 34,600 individuals. It expects to incur about $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion in one-time prices in direction of the restructuring plan in 2026 and 2027.
Income expectations
In its current report, Dow mentioned that it expects first-quarter web gross sales of $9.4 billion, a determine which is beneath analysts’ common estimate of $10.33 billion, in line with knowledge compiled by LSEG.
In the meantime, the corporate’s web gross sales in its largest enterprise section, packaging and speciality plastics, fell 10.7% to $4.74 billion within the fourth quarter ended 31 December, in contrast with a yr earlier, primarily due to decrease polymer costs, Reuters reported.
The Michigan-based firm reported a smaller-than-expected adjusted lack of 34 cents per share, in contrast with analysts’ common estimate of a lack of 46 cents, the company report mentioned.