By Kelly Cloonan

Whirlpool sales dropped in the latest quarter with business taking a hit as tariffs prompted Asia-based appliance manufacturers to ramp up shipments into the U.S. and put a chill on its business in Canada and Europe.

The appliance maker said Wednesday tariffs have weighed on its business for the last two quarters, with the threat of retaliatory levies affecting results in Canada and Europe in particular. However, the company expects the Trump administration's new policies to help level the playing field to support American manufacturing.

Whirlpool added that it's taking actions to offset the incremental impacts of the tariffs and that it plans to deliver more than $200 million of structural cost take out actions.

"We continue to stay focused on what is within our control in this dynamic environment," Chief Financial Officer Jim Peters said.

For the first quarter, Whirlpool swung to a profit of $71 million, or $1.28 a share, compared with a loss of $259 million, or $4.72 a share, a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings per share were $1.70, which matched the estimate of analysts polled by FactSet.

Sales fell 19% to $3.62 billion, falling short of the $3.67 billion analysts polled by FactSet expected.

Net sales in Whirlpool's Latin America segment slid 12%, while sales in North America were down less than 1%, and growth was reported in the company's Asia and global segments.

Chief Executive Marc Bitzer said an uncertain macroeconomic environment hurt consumer confidence in the quarter.

For the full year, the company maintained its previous guidance for net sales of around $15.8 billion. Analysts had been looking for $15.62 billion.

Whirlpool also noted Asian producers have exploited loopholes in tariff policies in the last several years, resulting in cost disadvantages for U.S.-made products. Those producers boosted exports to the U.S. in anticipation of recently imposed tariffs by more that 30% in the fourth quarter and February year-to-date.

Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 23, 2025 17:12 ET (21:12 GMT)

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