By John Keilman

For much of America, the Iran war has meant pain at the pump. For Whirlpool, it has caused what it calls a "recession-level industry decline," and higher appliance prices are coming as a result.

The Michigan-based maker of refrigerators and washing machines cut its full-year earnings guidance roughly in half Wednesday, from $6 per share to a range of $3 to $3.50, and said it would suspend its dividend as it focuses on paying down debt. Whirlpool stock dropped by 18% in after-hours trading.

Chief Financial Officer Roxanne Warner said U.S. consumer confidence nosedived to historically low levels, driven by worries over the rising cost of living, after the war began Feb. 28.

The anemic housing market has made matters worse, company officials have said. Though shoppers still replaced aging or broken appliances with modestly priced equivalents, they shied away from the company's higher-price, more profitable models.

"We believe that's absolutely driven by the fact that consumers are being a bit more cautious in terms of what they're spending, and most likely reducing the amount of big-ticket purchases," Warner said. The company lost $0.56 per share in the quarter, compared with the $0.38 earnings per share that Wall Street had expected.

Warner said the company was further hurt by the Supreme Court's decision to invalidate the Trump administration's emergency tariffs. Following the decision, she said, rivals cut their prices in anticipation of receiving refunds.

Warner said a new tariff policy announced in April, applying a flat 25% levy on the total value of imported appliances, would give Whirlpool the advantage it has long predicted over its foreign competitors. The company makes 80% of its products for the U.S. market domestically.

Whirlpool reduced its discounts on many products in April to make up for what it said were three years of cost inflation it had not passed on to consumers. Atypically, its competitors swiftly followed the effective price hike with their own increases, which Warner said was a sign that higher prices were sustainable.

The company plans to increase list prices for its appliances by about 4% in July.

Write to John Keilman at john.keilman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 06, 2026 17:07 ET (21:07 GMT)

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