Markets
Corteva Swung to a Loss as Latin America Sales Fell 28%
Corteva's third-quarter sales fell 9% to $1.59 billion and its Latin America sales dropped 28%, the company said on November 11, 2026, blaming Brazil.
Corteva's first report since splitting off its seed business did not go the way investors hoped. The agricultural chemicals group said after the close on Wednesday, November 11, that third-quarter net sales fell 9% to $1.59 billion, against about $1.77 billion expected, according to Investing.com. Adjusted operating earnings were 6 cents a share, against a consensus of 10 cents, and on a reported basis the company swung to a pro forma loss of $54 million, or 8 cents a share, from a profit of $60 million a year earlier.
Almost all of the damage came from one region. Latin America sales dropped 28% to $570 million, with volumes down 24% and prices down 7%. The company blamed "elevated channel inventory and delayed purchasing given farmer liquidity constraints and high interest rates": distributors in Brazil were still sitting on product bought earlier, and farmers short of cash were buying only what they needed, when they needed it. Chief executive Luke Kissam said Brazil "was materially weaker than anticipated."
The rest of the world was fine. North America sales rose 7% on a 19% jump in volume, even as prices for the herbicide acetochlor came under pressure, and sales rose 12% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 3% in Asia Pacific. Group volume fell only 2%. The 7% drop in price, mostly on older molecules facing generic competition in Brazil, did more harm than the lost tonnes, and adjusted operating EBITDA fell 17% to $222 million.
The outlook is where the shares took the hit. Corteva now expects adjusted pro forma operating EBITDA of $1.10 billion to $1.125 billion for 2026 and operating earnings of 76 to 80 cents a share. Since it had already earned 76 cents in the first nine months, the new range implies close to nothing in the fourth quarter. The stock fell about 8% in after-hours trading, according to StockTitan; Investing.com put the drop at 6.4%. The company also expects $130 million to $140 million of restructuring charges this year.
The seed business, Vylor, became a separate company on October 1, so year-on-year comparisons are pro forma and the new company has little history for investors to lean on. The Brazilian problem is not new: Corteva had already warned in the summer that it saw no price recovery there this year. What changed is the volume. Until distributors clear their shelves, sales into the channel will lag what farmers actually use, and that is the number to watch when the company reports again.