AP Smith Manufacturing Co. v. Barlow, 13 N.J. 145, 98 A.2d 581 (N.J. 1953),[1] is a US corporate law case, concerning the application of directors' duties in regard to balancing the interests of different stakeholders.

It held that directors may make charitable donations, so long as their personal interests do not conflict, or there is a contravention of state law.

The directors of AP Smith Manufacturing, a New Jersey company making fire hydrants in East Orange, approved donation of $1,500 (equivalent to $17,100 in 2023) to Princeton University.

The Court held the gift was within the competence of the company and lauded it as a 'long visioned… action in recognizing and voluntarily discharging its high obligations as a constituent of our modern society.'

State legislation adopted in the public interest and applied to pre-existing corporations under the reserved power has repeatedly been sustained by the Supreme Court.