Shares of Whirlpool (WHR, Financial) fell nearly 10% on Monday after reporting second-quarter earnings per share of $3.20 on $5.14 billion in revenue. The company fell 49 cents short of earnings estimates and $150 million short of revenue expectations.
"We are pleased to deliver margin expansion in a very challenging cost environment, driven by strong North America margins and significant global price/mix improvement during the second quarter,"Â CEO Marc Bitzer said. "Despite these positives, our performance in EMEA was below expectations. As a result, 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."
By geographic area, Whirlpool's Europe, Middle East and Africa division reported second-quarter net sales of $1.1 billion, down slightly from $1.2 billion in the prior-year period. Whirlpool Latin America registered net sales of $852 million, down from $986 million. Whirlpool Asia posted net sales of $428 million, an increase from $373 million a year ago.
Earnings before interest and taxes were a loss of $562 million, or -10.9% of sales, compared to $251 million, or 4.7% of sales, in the prior-year quarter.
The company repurchased 6,269,591 shares at an average price of $159.50 per share, which equated to a total cost of approximately $1 billion.
For full-year 2018, the company expects GAAP earnings per diluted share of 15 cents to 75 cents and ongoing earnings per diluted share of $14.20 to $14.80 due to favorable product price/mix and share repurchases. It also projects generating approximately $1.5 billion in operating cash flow and approximately $850 million in free cash flow.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
