Whirlpool 1Q performance misses analysts' estimates; lowers full-year adj. profit outlook

Whirlpool posted greater first-quarter profits but still fell short of expectations and the appliance maker cut its full-year profit forecast citing the strong dollar and weaker demand in Brazil, where inflation and unemployment are spiraling.

Shares tumbled 4 percent before the opening bell Tuesday.

The company earned $191 million, or $2.38 per share, for the period ended March 31. A year earlier it earned $160 million, or $2.02 per share.

Interest expense declined to $9 million from $50 million.

Adjusted per-share earnings were $2.14 per share, well short of the $2.45 that analysts were looking for, according to analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

The maker of Maytag, KitchenAid and other appliances posted revenue of $4.85 billion in the period, also falling short analyst projections for $5.16 billion.

Whirlpool Corp., based in Benton Harbor, Michigan, now expects full-year adjusted earnings in a range of $12 to $13 per share. Its prior guidance was for $14 to $15 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet predict earnings of $13.98 per share.

The company's stock fell $7.83 to $190 before the market open.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on WHR at http://www.zacks.com/ap/WHR

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Keywords: Whirlpool, Earnings Report