Whirlpool Stock Sinks on Appliance Maker’s Weaker-Than-Expected Results, Outlook

Shares of Whirlpool (WHR) tumbled nearly 17% Thursday as the maker of home appliances posted worse-than-expected results and gave weak guidance as North American sales slumped. The company also said it was slashing its stake in its Indian subsidiary in half. 

Whirlpool swung to a fourth-quarter loss of $7.10 per share because of a Maytag brand impairment charge. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha expected a loss of $0.88 per share.

Revenue fell 19% year-over-year to $4.14 billion, also missing forecasts. The company blamed the decline on the divestiture of most of its European operations.

North American major domestic appliances (MDA) sales dropped 1.2%, which Whirlpool noted was driven by “a sizeable trade inventory reduction coupled with strong sell through in the quarter, negatively impacting price/mix.” MDA sales were up 8.8% in Asia and 7.3% in Latin America. Sales of small domestic appliances grew 6.4% globally.

Along with the results, Whirlpool announced that it intends to cut its ownership in Whirlpool of India Ltd. to about 20% through a market sale in 2025.

The company sees full-year adjusted EPS of about $10.00 and revenue of roughly $15.8 billion. Visible Alpha estimates were $11.05 and $15.92 billion, respectively.

On Monday, Whirlpool shares hit their highest level since the fall of 2023. With today’s slide, they turned negative for the past 12 months.