Whirlpool Corporation WHR has seen its shares slide 17.5% in the past month. WHR’s downside was more pronounced after it reported soft fourth-quarter 2024 results on Jan. 29, where the company missed revenue expectations and declined year over year. The company has underperfomed the broader industry’s decline of 16.1%, the broader Consumer Discretionary sector’s rise of 7.1%, and the S&P 500’s growth of 3.8% in the same period.
WHR Stock Past One Month Performance
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Whirlpool’s fourth-quarter 2024 results showed an 18.7% year-over-year decline in revenues, largely due to the persistent global demand softness and an unfavorable price/mix. In the fourth quarter, the company particularly witnessed a 1.4% decline in sales in North America, caused by a significant reduction in trade inventory along with strong quarterly sell-through, which affected the price and product mix. Also, sales in MDA Latin America dipped 4% year over year, owing to higher industry demand in Brazil and Mexico.
WHR’s Bleak Outlook
Management issued a cautious forecast for 2025, citing inflationary pressures, supply chain challenges, soft demand trends and an adverse price/mix. Whirlpool anticipates net sales of $15.8 billion, down from $16.6 billion reported in the year-ago period. Ongoing EPS is expected to be $10.00, down from $12.21 per share reported in 2024. The ongoing earnings guidance includes approximately $200 million of cost actions.
Despite forecasting an ongoing EBIT margin of 6.8%, up from 5.3% in 2024, Whirlpool anticipates increased marketing and technology investments to hurt margins by 50 basis points (bps). Additionally, currency fluctuations, particularly the weakening of the Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar, are expected to have another 50-bps negative impact.
Management expects a tough macro backdrop in the United States, at least in the near term. Despite stability in the U.S. market, elevated mortgage rates are negatively impacting discretionary demand, leading to weak existing home sales, which may limit the industry growth. Consequently, demand in the United States has shifted heavily toward low-margin replacement, led by purchases. Additionally, the high-margin discretionary demand is expected to remain weak on sluggish home sales.
However, the housing market is poised for an eventual rebound. In Latin America, while 2024 showed strong industry improvement, growth momentum slowed toward the end of the year, making future expansion uncertain. The SDA Global industry volume is also expected to remain flat.
A Declining Estimates Trend for WHR Stock
Following the soft fourth quarter performance, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for WHR’s earnings per share has seen downward revisions. In the past 30 days, analysts have decreased estimates for earnings for 2025 and 2026 by 18% to $9.52 and 15.7% to $10.75 per share, respectively. The estimates suggest year-over-year increases of 22% and 13%, respectively.
Analysts have lowered their estimates 40.8% to $1.73 for the first quarter of 2025, owing to slower growth, margin contraction and increased cost pressures.
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Final Words on WHR Stock
The soft Q4 performance and cautious guidance for 2025 indicate that the WHR stock lacks near-term growth potential. Consequently, analysts have taken a bearish stance on the stock. WHR may continue to underperform in the near term, suggesting investors stay away. Whirlpool currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Don’t Miss These Solid Bets
We have highlighted three better-ranked stocks, namely, Wolverine World Wide WWW, Gildan Activewear GIL and lululemon athletica LULU.
Wolverine designs, manufactures and distributes a wide variety of casual and active apparel and footwear. The company sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WWW’s current financial-year sales indicates a decline of almost 22% from the year-ago reported figures. The consensus mark for EPS reflects significant growth to 90 cents from 5 cents reported in the prior year. WWW has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 17.03%, on average.
Gildan Activewear, a manufacturer of premium quality branded basic activewear, carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. GIL has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.4%, on average.
The consensus estimate for Gildan Activewear’s current financial-year EPS indicates growth of 15.6% from the year-ago figure.
lululemon is a yoga-inspired athletic apparel company. LULU carries a Zacks Rank of 2 at present.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for lululemon athletica’s current financial-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 9.7% and 12.5%, respectively, from the year-ago corresponding figures. LULU has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.7%, on average.
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