The vibe around the US housing market still isn’t pretty, and likely won’t be any better until later this year.
Appliance giant Whirlpool (WHR) just dropped some guidance ahead of an investor day down at the New York Stock Exchange today that says a lot about the continued pressures in the market.
Despite a major innovation push this year (notably an aggressive push into new small appliances such as automated KitchenAid espresso makers) the company guided to flat sales in North America year over year.
The company doesn’t really see top line improvement until 2026, where it outlined a 2% to 3% compound annual sales growth rate for its largest market — North America.
I will be diving into the guide more with Whirlpool chairman and CEO Marc Bitzer in a chat that will air on Yahoo Finance Live today in the 3 p.m. ET hour.
The positive here: the notorious industrial cost-cutter thinks it could expand its profit margins this year, next year and in 2026 by removing a good amount of costs.
Keep in mind this back-end weighted outlook from Whirlpool comes on the heels of a lackluster new home sales report this week.
Bottom line is for housing derivative stocks like Whirlpool, Home Depot (HD), etc. to work higher again there will have to be new indications on when the Fed will be cutting interest rates. The expectations on rate cuts this year has been pushed back a lot amid stronger than expected inflation readings and various Fed speak.
That said, I am a buyer of one of those new KitchenAid automatic espresso makers. Snazzy tool to deliver caffeine to me in a super efficient manner!
