Consumers aren’t buying as many appliances as they used to, and that’s bad news for Whirlpool according to Bank of America. The firm on Wednesday downgraded the company stock to underperform from neutral and cut its price target to $119 from $155. That’s about 13% lower than where shares traded at Tuesday’s close. “Industry and company data suggests a severe drop in appliance demand and softening of pricing, while costs remain elevated, pressuring margins,” wrote analyst Elizabeth Suzuki in the note, adding that Bank of America lowered its expectations for Whirlpool’s 2023 earnings. Data from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers shows that monthly major appliance volume growth in the U.S. has slipped rapidly to a year-to-date run rate of 80.4 million units in 2022 from 86.6 million units in 2021. “We view the risk as more skewed to the downside that demand weakens further given rising rates, persistent inflationary pressure on the consumer, and a material slowdown in housing,” Suzuki said, adding that a combination of lower new home construction, lower housing turnover and lower discretionary renovation demand are all headwinds expected to continue in 2023. Earnings miss In addition, third quarter earnings underperformed Bank of America’s expectations – the company reported ongoing earnings before interest and taxes of $265 million, 41% below the banks estimate and consensus of $450 million. Revenue also missed Bank of America’s estimate by 5%, and the company reduced its full-year outlook by another 3% so that it’s now 13% below the initial one it released in January. “But the bigger disappointment was ongoing EBIT margins, which contracted significantly in every region and resulted in ongoing EBIT that was about 50% below prior-year levels,” Suzuki wrote. “North America drove the lion’s share of the miss, due to the impact of widespread global cost increases, combined with weakening demand. While raw material and transportation costs should become more favorable over time, Suzuki sees the “demand and pricing environment as getting materially less favorable.” Shares of Whirlpool have slumped more than 41% year to date, underperforming the S & P 500’s 19% drop. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
