Bear of the Day: Whirlpool (WHR)

Whirlpool WHR is one of the world's largest manufacturers of home appliances. The company's portfolio of products can be broadly classified into laundry appliances, refrigerators and freezers, cooking appliances, and other small household appliances such as dishwashers and mixers.

The stock is a current Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), with analysts slashing their EPS expectations across the board.

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Whirlpool Sentiment Remains Rough

WHR’s latest quarterly results didn’t go a long way in turning sentiment around, with shares now down more than 40% over the last year. Concerning headline figures, sales of $3.8 billion fell 0.9% YoY alongside a 75% decline in earnings. Big dilution roughly a month following the above-mentioned release also led to a guidance cut, helping explain the sharp downward EPS revisions.

As we can see below, the company’s top line has been very soft over the past five years, seeing little to no growth. Leading the weak performance has been a collapse in discretionary spending across its appliances.

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Though replacement demand has remained steady, a soft housing market relative to historical levels has led to a sharp decline in the demand for new appliances, which is where stronger margins are. In other words, if new houses aren’t being bought, neither are sets of new appliances.

Below is a chart illustrating the company’s gross margin on a trailing twelve-month basis, dating back five years.

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Bottom Line

Negative earnings estimate revisions paint a challenging picture for the company’s shares in the near term.

Whirlpool WHR is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), indicating that analysts have taken a bearish stance on the company’s earnings outlook.

For those seeking strong stocks, the best idea would be to focus on stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) – these stocks sport a notably stronger earnings outlook paired with the potential to deliver explosive gains in the near term.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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