05-09-2026, 02:28 PM
The below is from Moody's news website:
The bottom line is Whirlpool has suspended its dividend for now.
This is from the earnings call (the quote is somewhat abridged to focus on the salient points):
For the full story, search on the web or go to Whirlpool's website and look at the latest earnings call.
Quote:Whirlpool suspends dividend payouts, foreshadows more cost cuts amid declining sales & consumer confidence disruption
by MoodyOnTheMarket.com
May 7, 2026
Whirlpool Corporation is taking drastic action to conserve cash amid a sales decline that is being blamed on sharply declining consumer confidence driven by the unexpected War in Iran.
For the first time in 55 years, Whirlpool will stop quarterly dividend payments to shareholders, effective in Q2, 2026. Whirlpool had recently paid quarterly dividends of 90 cents per share, after paying $1.75 per share for several years.
CEO Marc Bitzer called it a “painful decision”, but one that was necessary in order to focus on paying down debt, improving margins and making necessary capital investments in manufacturing facilities in Ohio and Iowa.
Bitzer and his key management team members addressed industry analysts in their quarterly conference call Thursday morning.
The bottom line is Whirlpool has suspended its dividend for now.
This is from the earnings call (the quote is somewhat abridged to focus on the salient points):
Quote:Susan Maklari
Analyst, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
Q: Okay. That's helpful. And turning to the dividend. Can you talk a bit more about the decision to suspend that?
What needs to happen to perhaps start to bring that back in? And then just more broadly, your thoughts on the current capital structure post the offering. And I know you talked about that path to deleveraging. But can you just
give us a bit more color on how you're thinking about the future of the capital structure and what that will mean for
uses of cash?
Marc Robert Bitzer
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Whirlpool Corp.
A: Yeah. So Susan, first of all, to clarify, dividend decisions are made by our board. But as the CEO, yeah, to
suspend the dividend is a very, very painful decision. I mean, just what it is. And certainly it's not something which
I want to keep for very many quarters in place. So we would like to resume the dividend as quickly as possible,
but clearly, it's a board decision.
What has to be true is basically we need to have a better ongoing operating margin, and we want to continue to
pay down our debt. That's basically what has to be true before we'll resume the dividend. But it's really a reflection
of we want to pay down our debt this year. You saw earlier $900 million. That's massive. And at the same time,
we want to continue to invest in our future, i.e. in products, but we did not want to cut back our capital
investments. That's why we took the difficult decision. It's the right decision on capital allocation, and we will
reassess as the operating margins will improve. But again, it's ultimately a board decision.
Secondly, we are committed to reducing our debt levels, now more than ever. We expect to pay down more than
$900 million of debt in 2026, continuing our commitment to deleverage. Lastly, after careful consideration with a
focus on ensuring financial flexibility during this challenging operating environment, we have made the prudent
decision to pause our quarterly dividend starting in the second quarter. This decision is critical to ensure we
create the capacity on our balance sheet to pay down debt and fund organic growth
For the full story, search on the web or go to Whirlpool's website and look at the latest earnings call.