Benzinga - by Zacks, Benzinga Contributor.
Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) ended the recent trading session at $92.24, demonstrating a -0.85% swing from the preceding day's closing price. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.11%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.56%.
The maker of Maytag, KitchenAid and other appliances's stock has dropped by 2.65% in the past month, falling short of the Consumer Discretionary sector's gain of 3.79% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.06%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Whirlpool in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (ETF:EPS) are projected to be $2.33, reflecting a 44.66% decrease from the same quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $3.88 billion, indicating a 18.97% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $12.37 per share and a revenue of $16.8 billion, representing changes of -23.45% and -13.62%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Whirlpool. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.33% lower. Whirlpool currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
From a valuation perspective, Whirlpool is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 7.52. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 13.31.
The Household Appliances industry is part of the Consumer Discretionary sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 205, finds itself in the bottom 19% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
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