DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE:DD) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Ed Breen: And that, again, that low mid-single digits for MSI is very negative in the first quarter and build during the year, and it gets positive in the back half of the year, which we believe that also having talked to our semi customers.

Mike Sison: Got it. Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of David Begleiter from Deutsche Bank. Your line is open.

David Begleiter: Thank you. Ed and Laurie, how should we think of €“ in E&I, how should we think about incremental margins in the back half of the year?

Lori Koch: Yes. We would expect in the back half of the year, the overall EBITDA margins to be more in that 31%-ish range that we would expect from the E&I perspective. So, they will be a little bit muted in the first half and we would expect a return from the EBITDA margin profile in the second half.

David Begleiter: So, what is implied for incrementals in the back half of the year, mid-30s or higher?

Lori Koch: A little higher, yes, mid-30s, maybe upper-30s incremental margins. They shouldn’t be too different than the €“ obviously, the gross margin you would see within the E&I segment.

David Begleiter: Understood. And just in W&P, what drives earnings higher in €˜23?

Lori Koch: I mean I think if you see a little bit of deflation that would drive earnings higher, we had mentioned in 2022 and the current expectation for 2023 is, there is about a 100 basis point headwind from net price cost. We haven’t baked any material benefit in from that perspective. So, that would be one tailwind that would help to drive the EBITDA margins higher. And then the other would just come within E&I mix enrichment. So, the quicker recovery in summary, that’s obviously our highest margin segment. So, that would help as well to drive the E&I margins.

David Begleiter: Thank you.

Operator: And the last question comes from the line of Frank Mitsch from Fermium Research. Your line is open.

Frank Mitsch: Thank you so much for squeezing me in under wire. I appreciate the granularity on China, your expectation that you are going to see a pickup by the mid-second quarter. But just curious, what are you seeing here real time post Chinese New Year in terms of economic activity there?

Lori Koch: Yes. I mean obviously, we can see January is also a little hard to see through given the timing of Lunar New Year. So, this year, it was full in January, last year full in February, so it makes it a little bit different from a year-over-year comp perspective. But the reopening is definitely happening. Right now, I think the benefit of the reopening is more on the essential side. So, spend is more towards those essential needs, and we would need it to obviously tend over to the discretionary needs that we would expect to see as you get further into the first half. But definitely, the lockdown appears to be well behind them and they are returning to some form of normalcy.

Frank Mitsch: Very helpful. And if I could stick to the geographic theme, your year-over-year volume declines in Europe moderated from the third quarter here in the fourth quarter. So, I am just curious as to what are you seeing on the ground in that part of the world and what your expectations are for €˜23 over in Europe?

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