In the last two quarters, the company's actual earnings exceeded the market's consensus forecast very widely. I wonder, whether the company's disclosures are in the right direction.

For the fiscal quarter ending September 2009, the consensus EPS forecast has remained the same over the past week at $0.065 and remained the same over the past month at $0.065. Of the 11 analysts making quarterly forecasts, none raised and none lowered their forecast. Analysts' estimates for the quarter ending September 2009 (Q3) range from a low of $-0.15 to a high of $0.16, with a consensus of $0.065.

Dow engages in the manufacture and sale of chemicals, plastic materials, agricultural, and other specialized products and services worldwide. It has 150 manufacturing sites in 35 countries and produces more than 3,300 products.

In 2008, the company made 7 acquisitions and divested 6 businesses. While so far in 2009, Dow made 1 acquisition and divested 6 businesses. These portfolio shuffles seem to be making Dow's business mix high-margin, high-growth, low earnings volatile. Dow Chemical aims to shift focus to specialty chemicals that are used in cosmetics and food additives, and work with partners to meet basic chemical needs.

The company seems to be on target of achieving savings through cost reductions. The company has managed to successfully launch both debt and equity issuances. It also eliminated all of the perpetual preferred stock from its balance sheet, there by provided positive lift to its future EPS.

On September 30, 2009, Dow's wholly-owned subsidiary Union Carbide Corp. completed the sale of its ownership in the Optimal Group of Companies to Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Berhad, or Petronas, for an equity value of $660 million. On Thursday (October 1) Dow completed the sale of its interest in Morton International, Inc. to Kassel, Germany-based K+S Aktiengesellschaft for $1.675 billion. About $1 billion in proceeds from the deal will be used to pay the outstanding balance of a bridge loan used to partially fund the Rohm and Haas acquisition earlier this year. The remaining proceeds, as well as proceeds from future non-strategic definitive divestiture agreements already in place, will be used to pay down other debt, in line with the company's broader de-leveraging plan.

Dow also plans to close two production units at Texas as part of its restructuring initiatives. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2009. For the fiscal year ending December 2009, the consensus EPS forecast has increased over the past week from $0.273 to $0.277 (1.47%) and increased over the past month from $0.273 to $0.277 (1.47%). Of the 12 analysts making yearly forecasts, 1 raised and none lowered their forecast.

Currently, the stock is trading at $26.15, compared to the 52 week range of $5.89-$27.9. The stock seems to be slightly overvalued at the current levels.