Archer-Daniels-Midland Beats Q1 Earnings Expectations But Misses Revenue Targets: What's Next for The Agri-Giant?

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company ADM shares are trading lower on Tuesday.

The company reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.46, beating the analyst consensus of $1.36. 

Quarterly revenues of $21.85 billion missed the street view of $22.27 billion.

Adjusted segment operating profit was $1.317 billion for the first quarter, a 24% decrease from the prior year. 

AS&O segment operating profit was $864 million during the first quarter of 2024, down 29% compared to the prior year period.

Slower farmer selling also negatively impacted export volumes and margins in South America. 

The operating profit of the Nutrition segment was $84 million during the first quarter of 2024, down 39% compared to the prior year. 

“To manage through the cycle, we are driving key strategic initiatives across the business, including the ramp-up of production at our Green Bison JV and the scaling of our regenerative agriculture and BioSolutions efforts,” said Chair of the Board and CEO Juan Luciano. 

Outlook: Archer-Daniels-Midland sees FY24 adjusted earnings per share of $5.25-$6.25 versus the $5.57 estimate.

“Our productivity initiative pipeline is also expanding and we are already seeing the results of our actions to reduce supply chain complexity and better serve our customers in Nutrition as the segment delivered sequential quarterly improvement in operating profit,” Luciano added.

In a separate press release, the company said that its global regenerative agriculture program expanded to more than 2.8 million acres in 2023, exceeding its 2 million acre goal. In addition, the company announced that it is targeting 3.5 million regenerative acres in 2024 and is increasing its 2025 goal from 4 million to 5 million acres globally.

The latest development is a part of the company’s launch of regenerative agriculture initiatives in Europe and Latin America.

Price Action:  ADM shares are trading lower by 2.97% to $58.89 on the last check Tuesday.