Consumer
Whirlpool Sees Appliance Demand Stabilizing as Consumers Adapt
- Company’s sales fall 5.5% but top analysts’ estimates
- High mortgage rates aren’t weighing further on sentiment
A Whirlpool Corp. washing machine and dryer.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Whirlpool Corp. is seeing demand for discretionary items such as appliances stabilize as consumers get used to higher mortgage rates and a shaky housing market.
The company’s net sales fell 5.5% from a year ago to $4.6 billion in the first quarter, but they landed ahead of the $4.5 billion analysts estimated. The decline was also in line with the company’s expectations, Chief Financial Officer Jim Peters said in an interview. Consumer sentiment on discretionary purchases isn’t any worse than in the first quarter, he added.