New Dow CEO drives ‘transformation’ back to profitability amid oil market upheaval

More than 30 years after joining Dow Inc. as an intern, Karen Carter became the CEO this year, taking the helm of a company grappling with financial losses, a corporate restructuring, thousands of layoffs, and the shuttering of some European plants.

Not that she hadn’t signed up for it. Carter took over the CEO role July 1 after helping create and implement the “transform to outperform” strategy announced in January.

“There’s a saying that it’s a blessing to be stressed by the thing you prayed for and hoped for,” Carter told Fortune. “This is really a privilege and an honor to be leading this company in such a time of change.”

That change includes Carter representing both the first woman and the first Black CEO for the nearly 130-year-old manufacturer, which is the largest chemicals company in the Americas. Last week, as Carter presided over her first earnings report as CEO, she delivered more change. Coupled with a boost to North American petrochemical profit margins from the Iran war and resulting high oil prices, Dow posted its most profitable quarter last week in four years, reporting a net income of $802 million and a 20% jump in net sales.

“It’s been a long time since we posted a quarter like this,” Carter said. “We anticipate that we’ll continue to be in a bit of a volatile environment. But we remain committed to what we said we were going to do, which is execute on our self-help and maximize the [third] quarter based on the market fundamentals.”

Despite the strong results, Dow’s stock value still dipped slightly because of its cautious guidance for the rest of the year, primarily because of the uncertainty in the Middle East and the supply chain ripple effects worldwide. The hope is to exceed the conservative guidance, she said, and satiate the shareholders and customers.

Carter,........

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