Whirlpool Climbs 2% Premarket After Earnings Beat

Shares of Whirlpool Corp. rose 2% in premarket trade on Wednesday after the home-appliance maker confirmed its full-year outlook. The company said it expects to earn $10.75 to $11.75 a share in 2015 and generate free cash flow of $700 million to $800 million. For the fourth-quarter, Whirlpool made $81 million, or $1.02 a share, down from $181 million, or $2.26 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings -- profit excluding costs related to two recent acquisitions -- climbed to $3.52 from $2.97 per share. Sales rose to $6 billion, from $5.1 billion in the same period last year. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of $3.19 a share on sales of $5.8 billion.