Dow Inc. (DOW) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

For the period ending June 30, 2023

July 25, 2023 8:00 a.m. ET

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Greetings, and welcome to the Dow Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

I will now turn the call over to Dow, Investor Relations, Vice President, Pankaj Gupta. Mr. Gupta, you may begin.

Pankaj Gupta

Good morning. Thank you for joining our webcast today. The accompanying slides are provided through this webcast and posted on our website. I'm Pankaj Gupta, Dow Investor Relations Vice President. And joining me today on the call are Jim Fitterling, Dow's Chair and Chief Executive Officer; and Howard Ungerleider, President and Chief Financial Officer.

Please note, our comments contain forward-looking statements and are subject to the related cautionary statement contained in the earnings news release and slides. Please refer to our public filings for further information about principal risks and uncertainties. Unless otherwise specified, all financials where applicable, excludes significant items.

We will also refer to non-GAAP measures. A reconciliation of the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure and other associated disclosures are contained in the earnings news release and slides and are posted on our website.

On Slide 2, you will see the agenda for our call. Jim will begin by reviewing our second quarter results and operating segment performance. Howard will then share our outlook and modeling guidance and then provide an update on our cost savings actions and financial position. To close, Jim will outline how we are continuing to advance our long term Decarbonize and Grow, as well as Transform the Waste strategies, while navigating challenging short term dynamics. Following that, we will take your questions.

Now let me turn the call over to Jim.

Jim Fitterling

Thank you, Pankaj. Beginning on Slide 3, we continued to navigate a challenging macroeconomic environment with slow global growth in the second quarter. Despite lower year-over-year sales and earnings, Team Dow delivered sequential earnings improvement by executing on our financial and operational playbook. We leveraged our diverse portfolio to capitalize on gains in packaging and modestly higher seasonal demand in building and construction. This resulted in a sequential improvement in volume. In addition, we continue to implement our $1 billion of proactive and targeted cost savings actions delivering $250 million of savings in the quarter and $350 year to date.