Key Takeaways
- Whirlpool blamed falling consumer sentiment and the impact of tariffs for weaker-than-anticipated results.
- The major appliance maker recommended slashing its dividend to reduce costs.
- Whirlpool also reduced its full-year profit guidance.
Whirlpool (WHR) shares tumbled more than 10% Tuesday, a day after the maker of washers, dryers, and other major appliances posted worse-than-expected results, cut its guidance, and planned to reduce its dividend because of what it called “negative consumer sentiment.”
The owner of its eponymous brand as well as Maytag, KitchenAid, and others reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.34, with revenue declining more than 5% year-over-year to $3.77 billion. Both fell short of Visible Alpha estimates.
The Benton Harbor, Mich.-based firm added that along with falling consumer sentiment, its results continued to be hurt by high levels of promotional activity and new U.S. tariffs, with competitors “stockpiling Asian imports into the U.S.” ahead of the implementation of the new duties.
CFO Jim Peters said the company faced an “uncertain environment,” and because of that “we are focused on what we can control: executing cost reduction, proactively managing debt maturities, and strengthening our balance sheet to ensure financial resilience.”
As part of that cost reduction, Whirlpool announced that it was recommending slashing its annual per share dividend to $3.60 from $7.00.
The company also lowered its full-year adjusted EPS outlook to a range of $6.00 to $8.00 compared to the previous forecast of approximately $10.00.
Shares of Whirlpool have lost roughly a quarter of their value this year.
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