Whirlpool Domestic Sales Boom for an Easy Beat This Quarter

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Whirlpool edged higher Friday after it issued a more optimistic forecast for the year.

The maker of Maytag, KitchenAid and other appliances also reported a larger second-quarter profit than Wall Street had expected. U. S. sales, thanks in part to a hot housing market, continue to improve, in contrast to other parts of the world.

Net income nearly doubled, to $320 million, or $4.15 per share. Excluding one-time gains related to tax adjustments and other one-time items, Whirlpool earned $3.50 per share, way better than the projections of $3.35 from analysts that follow the company, according to a poll by Zacks Investment Research.

Its revenue inched down to $5.2 billion from $5.21 billion a year ago. That also edged out analyst expectations.

Whirlpool, based in Benton Harbor, Michigan, now expects an annual profit of $14.25 to $14.75 per share excluding restructuring costs and other one-time items. In January, the company said it would earn between $14 and $14.75 a share.

In trading Friday afternoon, Whirlpool shares rose $4.99, or 2.7 percent, to $187.71.

Whirlpool shares have climbed 25 percent in 2016, four times the pace of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.