(Reuters) -Whirlpool’s shares tumbled 12% on Tuesday after the home appliances maker slashed its full-year earnings forecast and dividend, blaming pressure from rivals loading up on imports ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Shares of the Michigan-based company, known for its large appliances such as washing machines and refrigerators, slid 12.1% to $86, hitting their lowest level in more than six weeks.
BofA Global Research downgraded Whirlpool’s stock to “underperform” from “neutral” and cut its price target to $70, the second lowest on Wall Street.
Whirlpool’s stock was last at $85.64, and is now down 25% in 2025.
Late on Monday, Whirlpool forecast 2025 earnings in the range of $6 to $8 per share, down from its prior forecast of $10. It expects net sales to be flat, compared with its earlier forecast of about 3% growth from a year ago.
The company also slashed its annual dividend to $3.60 per share from $7.
Whirlpool predominantly manufactures in the U.S., and it expects to benefit from Trump’s tariffs on appliance imports in the long run. However, a rush by Asian manufacturers to sell their products ahead of the duties dented its earnings.
“As expected, the second quarter continued to be impacted by competitors stockpiling Asian imports into the U.S.,” CEO Marc Bitzer said.
Whirlpool’s profit warning comes as it grapples with slowing growth, and it has undergone a restructuring in recent years.
Reuters reported last year that German engineering group Robert Bosch is weighing a bid for Whirlpool.
BofA analysts wrote in a client note that Whirlpool’s foreign rivals appear willing to sacrifice margins in the short term to protect their market share.
“If tariffs result in another round of industry price increases, we see a risk that volume deteriorates in a weak consumer environment,” BofA analysts also wrote.
Whirlpool reported second-quarter net sales of $3.77 billion, missing Wall Street analysts’ average estimate of $3.88 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Quarterly profit also dropped to $1.17 per share from $3.96 a year earlier.
Power tools maker Stanley Black & Decker also reported lower profits over the lack of clarity on tariffs, sending its shares down about 8%.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco; Editing by Shreya Biswas and David Gregorio)
