Facing its first quarterly loss in a year—an $82 million deficit that reversed 2025’s gains—Whirlpool Corp. said it can no longer absorb mounting production costs. The company announced its largest price increase in a decade, a 10% consumer hike implemented in April, and scheduled an additional 4% increase for July to address multiyear inflationary cost pressures.
Marc Bitzer, Whirlpool’s chief executive, told investors during a Thursday conference call that the sales dropoff mirrors past economic shocks. “This level of industry decline is similar to what we have observed during the global financial crisis and even higher than during other recessionary periods,” Bitzer said.
The company’s financial report also highlighted recent shifts in trade policy. Whirlpool said its performance was affected by the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down emergency tariffs imposed under the Trump administration. While rival appliance makers are seeking refunds for those levies—disrupting industry pricing further—Whirlpool estimated the tariffs cost competitors 10% to 15% compared to roughly 5% of its own business.
Broader consumer anxiety over everyday expenses has compounded the pullback. With grocery and gas prices climbing, many households are delaying major appliance purchases and opting to repair existing equipment instead. “People are looking at the price of replacing appliances and realizing it’s not something they want to deal with right now,” Mark Stevenson, managing director and product designer at Stove Shield, said in a statement. “Instead, they’re asking how to avoid the damage in the first place.”
In response to the downturn, Whirlpool cut its full-year earnings forecast from a previous projection of $6 per share to a range of $3 to $3.50 per share. The parent company of KitchenAid and Maytag also announced it is suspending its dividend to prioritize debt reduction this year. Shares of Whirlpool tumbled more than 12% during Thursday trading following the earnings release. The company produces about 80% of its major appliances at American factories, a strategy previously aligned with federal pushes for domestic manufacturing.