The Tariffs Ate My Earnings, Say Industrials
A hodgepodge of higher costs — from rising raw material prices, labor shortages and supply-chain pressure — threatens manufacturers.
The price of war.
Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/BloombergIf there’s a running theme in the latest batch of industrial earnings, it’s rising costs.
Amid a busy day for manufacturers, Boeing Co., General Motors Co. and Pentair Plc had their numbers tarnished by mounting expenses. The culprits were varied: At Boeing, an escalating bill to get the delayed KC-46 Tanker program ready to make deliveries kept the company from raising its 2018 outlook as expected; GM’s profit will take a hit because of fallout from President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum; Pentair said higher input costs would weigh on third-quarter results before price increases recoup some of the lost margin toward the end of the year. United Parcel Service Inc., meanwhile, is still struggling to profitably handle the flood of e-commerce shipments.