Whirlpool’s Results Good and Bad

Appliance maker Whirlpool has posted third quarter results that managed to beat Wall Street estimates, even though these estimates were conservative predictions based on Whirlpool’s timid guidance. Even then, Whirpool’s increase in profits came together with a decrease in revenue, which can only mean that cost-cutting measures created the profit.

Image: Whirlpool

In the last quarter, Whirlpool was forced to shut down an Evansville, Indiana plant, eliminating 1,200 jobs as part of its cost-cutting measures. It may have come as no surprise to the plant’s employees, though, as Whirlpool announced last year that it would need to cut around 7 percent of its workforce, or around 5,000 jobs, to cope with the recession’s impact on sales.

Certain figures may bode well for Whirlpool going forward, though, such as the National Association of Realtors’ report that existing U.S. homes sales jumped 9.4 percent in September, which is the highest jump in two years. Such news caused Whirlpool’s shares to jump 6 percent as investors expect demand for Whirlpool appliances to increase in the future.