Whirlpool stock plunges on weak earnings, dividend cut

A combination of rising costs, aggressive competition, and an uncooperative economy led to weaker-than-expected earnings, a dividend cut, and reduced financial guidance.

Wednesday evening, Whirlpool reported a first-quarter per share loss of 56 cents from sales of $3.3 billion. Wall Street was looking for earnings per share of 38 cents from sales of $3.4 billion, according to FactSet.

A year ago, Whirlpool reported earnings per share of $1.70 from sales of $3.6 billion. Lower industry sales, unfavorable “price/mix,” and tariff confusion helped lead to the decline.

In February, the Supreme Court overturned President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs, which impacted industry pricing, Whirlpool said. The company was already facing higher steel and aluminum prices due to the separate Section 232 tariffs.

Section 232 gives the U.S. president the authority to restrict imports deemed a threat to national security.

The company now expects to earn between $3.00 and $3.50 for the full year and free cash flow of $300 million. Prior guidance given in January called for earnings per share of $7 and free cash flow of about $450 million.

The company was looking forward to a housing recovery this year, which has yet to materialize. It also announced a dividend “suspension.” Whirlpool was paying 90 cents per quarter.

This is the reason my “new” car is a 2011 Lexus IS350C.
I bought it last October with 46K miles.
It has the nice features like heated/cooled seats and intermittent wipers that sense the speed they should go. Plus a touch screen to operate all the in cabin stuff.

However, it does not have lane assist. Or any of the CAFE standard things like shutting off the engine when you stop. It also does not have a turbo charged engine.
It is a naturally aspirated V6.

The only new home gadget both my wife and I absolutely love is an Air Fryer. Ours is a Ninja. It is perfect for cooking for two people. We hardly ever turn on our oven anymore. Unless we are cooking for guests.

“I have to add several buckles of water to our current GE model.”

We bought our basic, no bells and whistles, Kenmore W/D early in 2010.

When we moved into a different house in 2023 we decided to leave the W/D for the new owners, since the prior owners of the new house had left their set. High end, grotesquely expensive, each one less than a year old, able to connect to wifi (WTF?).

The dryer was OK. The washer was a top loading HE thingie — no agitator. The water didn’t even cover the clothes. So, just like you, we carried water to the washer in pots and pans. The clothes came out dingy.

Thankfully, we hadn’t sold our first house yet. We GAVE the new W/D to our handyman, and brought the old Kenmore stuff to the new place. The set is still going strong.

What are these manufacturers thinking!?!

The other appliances we have that have been very reliable our the 12 year old fridge and dishwasher.
We bought these from Sears when they were still in business about a year after moving into this house.

We have a Kenmore tagged french door fridge. It is a Maytag/Amana/Whirlpool/Kitchen Aid. Meaning, back then they were all made in the same factory in Iowa. They just had different trim levels and a different name on the door.
It does NOT have ice and water through the door. Which, according to my local appliance dealer is the number one repair problem with fridge/freezers. You do not want an ice maker except in the freezer. Where you have to open the door and scoop out the ice by hand.
It does have a filtered water dispenser. On the inside on the left side. You have to open the door the dispense water.

The other appliance that has been bullet proof is the Kitchen Aid dishwasher. It has a Stainless steel interior.
It is quiet. The only issue is the rollers of the bottom rack have broken. I replaced them with Stainless Steel components from the local hardware store.
We only run it a couple times a week.
Just the two of us.

I have two GE electric wall ovens that were there when we moved in 13 years ago. I think they are 1990s vintage. The only repair is I replaced the heater coil element from applianceparts.com. I think it was $19 and took about ten minutes to replace. The bottom oven gets used a couple times a year. Mostly to store pans.

I also have a GE electric glass range top. It is not an induction top. It has heating elements underneath. The biggest one on the front right stopped working. I bought a new element on line for $130. Replaced it. Good as new.

I have a GE microwave/exhaust fan above the range top.
The handle had broken off. I glued it back on with JB Weld epoxy. It is also probably a mid 90s product.

That’s heresy! That’s as bad as Briggs and Stratton making engines with plastic camshaft and gear for a while. I’ve got B&S’ from the 40’s that are actually designed with up to... I’d estimate a dozen+ overhauls. You can hone and re-ring them a few times before going to oversize piston and there’s 3 oversizes after the original. My 1942 model B is on its first oversize and that’s after serving in WWII and then getting surplused to an Oregon logging operation up to the 70’s or so...

Those things well cared for were literally generational machines. I’ll grant that there is still some of that out there, but a portion of that appears to be depending on consumers actively not caring for the device. I’m 9,000 miles away from 600,000 on my 2011 Silverado, I think I’ve seen 1 other person in the last decade check their oil while getting gas 🤣

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