Dow put a number on its fourth quarter for its biggest business, calling for roughly $1.11 billion in operating Ebitda - a profit gauge that excludes interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization - in Packaging and Specialty Plastics. The company said that would be nearly double a year ago, lining up as a 93% increase from the $576 million it posted in Q4 2025, and it comes in ahead of the roughly $1.02 billion analysts had penciled in.
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Tate credited internal cost efforts and pricing, saying, "It's a combination of our self-help actions, our pricing improvement actions." He said a single price bump in September, together with reduced expenditures over the quarter, is expected to drive the gains.
In the third quarter, net sales climbed 13%, marking a second straight period of double digit growth, a run the company said it has not seen in nearly four years. That sales result was broadly aligned with expectations, while operating income came in above the average analyst forecast.
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The Michigan based company leaned on higher margin areas like artificial intelligence infrastructure and consumer electronics, which Tate said should help counter rising feed stocks and ongoing weakness in building and construction. In New York premarket trading, shares climbed 4.2%, and as of Wednesday's close the stock was up 30% for the year. The bottom line: if that Q4 segment profit lands as guided, it underscores pricing power and cost control at a time when input costs and construction demand are moving the other way.
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