(Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News)
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.’s earnings shrunk to the lowest level since the pandemic as a difficult crop trading market is complicated by mounting trade and biofuel policy uncertainty.
Adjusted earnings for the first three months of 2025 slumped 52% from a year earlier to 70 cents a share, making it the worst quarterly result since early 2020, the company said in a statement. That compares with a 66-cent average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
ADM said earnings this year should be at the lower range of its guidance range.
ADM ranks No. 77 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America and No. 11 on the agriculture sector list.
READ MORE: ADM Layoffs Upend Trader’s Global Commodity Desk
Crop processors are facing a decline in the profits they make from crushing soybeans into oil as fuel makers are still waiting for the Trump administration to provide guidance on how to generate tax credits from renewable diesel production under legislation approved in 2022. The outlook for ample grain supplies has also weighed on results, giving buyers confidence to operate with lower inventories and reducing traders’ negotiating power.
Chicago-based ADM — which has for more than a year grappled with the fallout from a major accounting scandal — said earlier this year it would eliminate as many as 700 jobs in 2025 as part of efforts to slash costs. The push has led to layoffs at its global commodity desk, including of managers responsible for buying and selling grains, vegetable oils and freight.
“In a challenging and uncertain external environment, we advanced multiple aspects of our self-help agenda,” CEO Juan Luciano said in the statement, citing operational improvements and “organizational realignments.”
The company’s nutrition unit — which was at the center of ADM’s accounting issues last year — saw profits increase 13% from a year earlier.
ADM shares fell 4.9% this year.
