Yahoo Finance

A rare bull on Trump tariffs from the C-suite community.

"Call me pro tariff," Whirlpool chair and CEO Marc Bitzer said on Yahoo Finance's Catalysts (video above).

Bitzer said the administration's new tariffs will make Whirlpool more competitive with offerings from cheaper Asian brands. Whirlpool manufactures its US products at 10 plants in North America.

The impact of tariffs — from imported parts to steel and aluminum — on the appliance industry could be severe in the near term, however.

Bank of America analyst Rafe Jadrosich estimates that about 40% of the US appliance industry's sales are imported, led by China (43% on a trailing 12-month basis), Mexico (20%), and South Korea (~11%).

While foreign appliance manufacturers have added some US-based production, especially in the laundry category, products such as cooking appliances and refrigeration units have significant manufacturing footprints in Mexico. Microwaves and specialty under-counter refrigerators are predominantly manufactured in China.

Read more about Whirlpool's stock moves and today's market action.

"Despite weak discretionary demand, there has been a wave of price increases in 2025 to offset expected tariffs," Jadrosich said. The analyst thinks appliance prices could rise another 6% to 7% in the second quarter if tariffs on Mexico stay in effect.

Bitzer said Whirlpool has increased prices to help mitigate the tariff hit.

"We had a number of price increases over the course of the last 12 months, which helped us mitigate the cost impact. The other part is we doubled down on cost takeouts. Particularly after January started ... we kind of really doubled down on our cost takeout efforts on the variable product costs. And yes, there is some of what we call rewiring of our supply chain, which occurs right now. It is limited because we're a US producer. But on some components which we source in China, we're looking at where else can we source them," Bitzer explained.

The company's efforts on these fronts allowed it to maintain its full-year profit guidance late Wednesday.

Shares rose 2% on Thursday, though the company slightly missed expectations on sales and net earnings in its latest quarter.

Earnings insight

• Net sales: $3.62 billion, -19.4% from the prior year vs. $3.65 billion estimate

• Adjusted EPS: $1.70, -4.5% from the prior year vs. $1.72 estimate

What else caught our attention: Guidance reiterated

• Full-year sales: $15.8 billion (reiteration; estimate: $15.72 billion)

• Full-year EPS: About $10.00 (reiteration; estimate: $9.30)

• CEO Mark Bitzer's comments to Yahoo Finance on the health of the US consumer:

  • A tale of high-income and low-income shoppers: "We do see, of course, as you would expect, some dichotomy between different groups of consumers. First of all, we try to ensure that we have offerings that are available across the price ladder for consumers who have different outlay needs. We also ensure that in channels where incomes tend to be a little bit more stretched that we offer a pack size that is friendly from a cash layout standpoint, which ends up being important to a group of consumers week on week."