Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Falls Short of Q4 CY2025 Revenue Expectations, Shares Decline

Whirlpool Q4 2025 Earnings Overview

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR), a leading home appliance producer, reported flat sales for the fourth quarter of 2025, posting $4.10 billion in revenue—falling short of Wall Street’s projections. The company’s revenue outlook for the full year stands at $15.45 billion (midpoint), which is 0.9% below what analysts anticipated. However, Whirlpool’s GAAP earnings per share reached $1.91, surpassing consensus estimates by 32%.

Is now a good opportunity to invest in Whirlpool?

Highlights from Whirlpool’s Q4 2025 Results

• Revenue: $4.10 billion, missing analyst expectations of $4.26 billion (no growth year over year, 3.7% below estimates)
• GAAP EPS: $1.91, beating the $1.45 consensus by 32%
• Adjusted EBITDA: $335 million, exceeding the $269.3 million estimate (8.2% margin, 24.4% above expectations)
• 2026 GAAP EPS Guidance: $6.25 (midpoint), which is 9.5% under analyst forecasts
• Operating Margin: 5.9%, a notable improvement from -3.3% in the same period last year
• Free Cash Flow Margin: 24.1%, consistent with last year’s figure
• Market Cap: $4.69 billion

“After navigating a difficult 2025, we are optimistic about 2026 thanks to our recent product launches, reduced promotional activity, and signs of recovery in the housing market.”

About Whirlpool

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) is recognized for pioneering the first automatic washing machine and manufactures a broad range of household appliances.

Revenue Performance

Assessing a company’s long-term track record can reveal its underlying strength. While any business can have short-term wins, sustained growth is a hallmark of quality. Over the past five years, Whirlpool’s sales have declined at an average annual rate of 4.4%, indicating ongoing demand challenges and suggesting the company has struggled to maintain momentum.

Although long-term trends are important, focusing solely on the past five years in the industrial sector may overlook recent shifts or cycles. In the last two years, Whirlpool’s revenue has dropped by an average of 10.7% per year, reflecting continued weak demand.

This quarter, Whirlpool missed analyst targets and reported a 0.9% decrease in revenue compared to the previous year, totaling $4.10 billion.

Looking forward, analysts expect Whirlpool’s revenue to remain largely unchanged over the next year. While new products and services may help stabilize sales, the forecast still lags behind industry averages.

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Profitability and Margins

Over the last five years, Whirlpool has remained profitable but has been hampered by high costs. Its average operating margin of 3.5% is considered weak for an industrial company, largely due to low gross margins.

Examining profitability trends, Whirlpool’s operating margin has declined by 5.3 percentage points over the past five years, indicating rising costs that the company was unable to offset through pricing.

In the fourth quarter, Whirlpool achieved an operating margin of 5.9%, a 9.2 percentage point improvement from the previous year. This gain was likely driven by better cost management, as operating expenses grew more slowly than revenue, even as gross margin slipped.

Earnings Per Share (EPS) Analysis

While revenue trends show growth, changes in earnings per share (EPS) reveal how profitable that growth is. For instance, a company might boost sales through heavy marketing, but that doesn’t always translate to higher profits.

Unfortunately, Whirlpool’s EPS has fallen at an average rate of 19.7% annually over the last five years, outpacing its revenue decline. This suggests the company’s fixed costs made it difficult to adapt to lower demand.

A closer look at Whirlpool’s earnings shows that, despite a recent uptick in operating margin, the five-year trend has been negative, which—along with revenue declines—has weighed on EPS. While interest and taxes also play a role, they are less indicative of core business health.

Shorter-term analysis is also telling: over the past two years, Whirlpool’s EPS has dropped by an average of 19.4% annually, mirroring the five-year trend and highlighting ongoing challenges.

For Q4, Whirlpool posted EPS of $1.91, a significant turnaround from the negative $7.09 reported a year ago, and well above analyst expectations. Looking ahead, Wall Street anticipates a 20.4% increase in full-year EPS to $5.63 over the next 12 months.

Summary of Q4 Results

Whirlpool exceeded analyst expectations for EPS and delivered a strong EBITDA beat this quarter. However, its full-year EPS guidance fell short, and revenue missed forecasts, making for a generally weak quarter. The stock price dropped 6.4% to $75.63 following the announcement.

Is Whirlpool a buy? The latest quarter is just one aspect of the company’s overall quality. Evaluating both business fundamentals and valuation is crucial before making an investment decision.