Whirlpool shares tank on surprise quarterly loss, lower sales
Shares of Whirlpool Corp. plunged more than 8% late Monday after the appliance maker swung to a surprise quarterly loss, posted sales that missed Wall Street expectations, and said it expects lower global revenue growth for the year thanks in part to poor performance in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Whirlpool said it lost $639 million, or $9.50 a share, in the quarter, versus earnings of $189 million, or $2.52 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, Whirlpool earned $3.20 a share, compared with $3.35 a share a year ago. Sales fell to $5.1 billion, from $5.3 billion a year ago. Analysts expected adjusted earnings of $3.43 a share on sales of $5.3 billion. Whirlpool said it expects GAAP per-share earnings between 15 cents and 75 cents in 2018 and adjusted 2018 per-share earnings between $14.20 and $14.80 a share "as favorable product price/mix and share repurchases are expected to be more than offset by lower global revenue growth, increased expectations for global cost inflation, and weaker than expected performance in the EMEA region," it said in a statement. The analysts surveyed by FactSet expect per-share adjusted earnings of $15.64 for the year. As a result of below-expectations performance in EMEA, "we are taking strong actions to improve our operational execution, and remain confident that we will deliver value for our shareholders in the coming quarters," Chief Executive Marc Bitzer said in a statement. Shares of Whirlpool ended the regular trading day down 0.7%.
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