A：New executive team members bring over 75 years of experience to their roles within Whirlpool Corporation. They include Mark as the chairman and CEO, Roxanne Warner as CFO, Juan Carlos Fuente as the executive president of North America and Global Strategic Sourcing, and Ludovic Buisine as the executive president of KitchenAid Small Appliances in Latin America.

A：Despite the challenges, the company delivered significant cost takeout actions of $200 million and managed global organic revenues to be flat to the prior year. They were unable to see industry pricing adjustments to offset the incremental cost of tariffs, which impacted their results.

A：The company expects to sustain the strong trajectory of its KitchenAid SDA business and the Latin America business in 2026. They anticipate improvements due to cost takeout actions, successful new product launches, normalized industry promotional intensity, and potential recovery in housing starts. They are also optimistic due to already announced and implemented promotional pricing changes.

A：The India Share sale transaction resulted in a reduction of the company's majority stake from 50% to a minority stake of 40%. The proceeds from this transaction were utilized to pay down debt, aligning with the company's capital allocation priorities.

A：The MDA North America segment's net sales, excluding currency, were largely flat year over year. They experienced continued strong share gains throughout the fourth quarter due to new product launches, but intense promotional activity impacted margins. The segment's EBIT margin was 2.8% in the fourth quarter and approximately 5% for the full year.

A：It is expected that the MDA North America segment will return to a less promotional environment based on recent industry data points, such as a shortening of the post-Black Friday promotional period and a decrease in the depth of promotional pricing for the MLK holiday. The segment has already announced and implemented promotional pricing changes that are expected to contribute to margin expansion in 2026.

A：The MBA Latin America business saw net sales, excluding currency, decline approximately 2% year over year due to volume decline in the fourth quarter. Economic instability in Argentina and an aggressive promotional environment in Brazil negatively impacted revenue and margins. However, these were offset by a favorable operational tax benefit related to a legal ruling, resulting in a full year EBIT margin of 6.2%.

A：The net sales for the MDA Asia business increased approximately script year over year. The segment delivered a full year EBIT margin of approximately 5% with a 120 basis points expansion year over year.

A：The key structural drivers for value creation in the MBA North America business are a strong influx of new products, the unique position as a domestic manufacturer in the tariff environment, and the state of the US housing market.

A：The MDA North America business is well-positioned to benefit from the multi-year housing recovery due to the historical data indicating a recovery following previous sales troughs, existing home sales being highly correlated with discretionary demand in home appliances, long undersupply of new homes, and the medium age of existing homes. The business has also made a strong competitive advantage in the builder segment.

A：The MDA Latin America business is considered uniquely positioned to grow because it has low market penetration with an industry's compound annual growth rate projections of approximately 4 to 5%, a sustained track record of value creation, number one market share position in the region, a strong historical presence, leading brands, and an exceptionally strong infrastructure.

A：The new products being launched in the Brazilian market that could drive growth are a new lineup of refrigerators, which are part of the premium home appliance brand in Brazil, targeting two critical categories in the market: top mount and bottom mount refrigerators.

A：The SDA global business is positioned for continued profitable growth due to the iconic KitchenAid brand, its high-quality craftsmanship and performance, strong trade relationships, accelerated online presence, successful launches in adjacent categories, and the reinvestment of growth proceeds into further growth acceleration while maintaining highly accretive margins.

A：The new products introduced by SDA global that could impact the EBIT margin include the compact grain and rice cooker and the Artisan plus stand mixer. The compact grain and rice cooker features precise cooking technology, and the Artisan plus stand mixer is considered to be a significant advancement since 1955.

A：The expected revenue growth for 2026 is approximately 5% on a like-for-like basis, with an EBIT margin of approximately 5.5% to 5.8%. The free cash flow is expected to deliver $400 to $500 million, and the full-year ongoing earnings per share is expected to be approximately $7, with an adjusted effective tax rate of approximately 25%.

A：The factors expected to impact the 2026 EBIT margin guidance include a positive price mix impact from recent and future new product launches and benefit from previously announced pricing actions in a reduced promotional environment. Interest rates are expected to ease, but there is no mature catalyst for new home sales. Tariffs will result in a negative impact of about 125 basis points, concentrated in the first half of 2026, and investments in marketing technology will negatively impact margin by approximately 50 basis points. Currency and transaction impacts are expected to have minimal impact to EBIT margin this year.

A：The company expects a solid EBIT margin of approximately 7%, driven by new product launches and continued cost reduction. SDA Global is expected to have a strong EBIT margin of approximately script and, driven by sustained momentum from new products.

A：To deliver price mix expansion, the company is observing industry dynamics, such as less promotional activity and meaningful pricing moves after Black Friday. They are confident in previously announced pricing actions and expect the new products launched in 2025 to gain significant market share with over 30% incremental floor on a like-for-like basis. The company is also focused on expanding its mass premium and premium product offering and on the kitchen aid MDA launch in late 2025 to elevate and position their brands for growth.

A：To support the cost position, the company is accelerating vertical integration and automation in their factories, optimizing their manufacturing and logistics footprint, and launching a strategic sourcing initiative for the best landed cost for components. These actions are expected to bring cost savings, improve supply chain resilience, and optimize the manufacturing and logistics footprint.

A：The company's free cash flow guidance is driven by an expectation of cash earnings of approximately $800 million, with a planned investment of approximately $400 million in capital expenditures for product innovation, digital transformation, and cost efficiency. Additionally, they expect approximately $100 million in working capital improvements and $50 million in restructuring cash outlays. The overall expectation is to deliver free cash flow of $400 to $500 million, or approximately 3% of net sales.

A：The capital allocation priorities for 2026 are consistent with those shared in 2025. The priorities include funding organic growth, reducing debt levels, and returning cash to shareholders through a healthy dividend. Specifically, the company plans to invest approximately $400 million in capital expenditures, pay down at least $400 million in debt, and continue evaluating dividend funding in alignment with progress toward long-term goals.

A：The substantial cost increase of tariffs led to a challenge for the company's 2025 results. However, they maintained their track record of cost reduction by delivering substantial cost cuts of $200 million to offset the impact of tariffs. The company's strategy included introducing a record number of new products, particularly through flooring expansion and share gains in the second half of 2025.

A：The outlook for 2026 includes a strong pipeline of new product introductions, expected normalization of industry pricing, and structural cost takeout actions yielding results. This is anticipated to lead to strengthened margins and free cash flow. The company expects the SDA global business to continue to show sustained momentum from new products, resulting in significant year-over-year growth. There is also potential upside from pent-up demand, with the possibility of an uptick in remodeling activities or existing home sales, depending on the mortgage rate environment. New home sales are expected to build a multi-year tail of demand, while remodeling and discretionary spending could accelerate, driven by consumer equity and sentiment. The timing of these factors is uncertain due to the global environment.

A：The assessment of pent-up demand is tied closely to the housing market, which is undersupplied and expected to lead to a multi-year tail of demand. There is potential for an uptick in the discretionary side, such as remodeling and home sales, driven by consumer equity and sentiment. The timing and extent of these factors are uncertain, but there is a belief that the pent-up demand could be unleashed faster than new home sales, contributing to increased demand in the coming years.

A：The reduction in flooring costs in 2026 is expected to bring benefits as the company benefits from the absence of introduction costs, the full benefit of higher flooring costs, and tailwinds from strong demand for new products. The exact impact is not quantified, but it is noted that the reduction in costs and the sell-through of products will contribute to an improvement in North America.

A：Roxanne and Juan Carlos have stepped into expanded roles and are focusing on debt paydown, an imperative cash and working capital management, delivering on cost savings and better mix initiatives. For the upcoming years, they plan to continue with these strategies, emphasizing the importance of pricing and benefits from new product launches.

A：The number one priority for the team is debt paydown, which they intend to focus on continuously. They aim to achieve this goal while also concentrating on driving inventory down and continuing to deliver on cost takeout initiatives.

A：In North America, the sales growth is anticipated to be 5%, with a volume outlook of flat. The price and mix are expected to contribute to this growth with 1.75 percentage points attributed to price and mix, which includes a healthy mix due to new product premium offerings and normalization in pricing.

A：In the fourth quarter, the company experienced intense promotional periods, during which they consciously chose not to increase market share but to maintain their prices despite the cost. Post-Black Friday, prices recovered immediately, differing from previous years when sales were not sustained. The industry is showing signs of reflecting the full cost of tariffs in prices, which is beneficial for President's Day and indicates a normalization of the promotional environment.

A：In Q1, the company plans to curtail production and control inventories to address the issue of excess inventory that is currently a burden on their financial numbers. This approach to inventory management and the expected shift in pricing favor are anticipated to mitigate the impact of Q1 on overall financial performance, which is projected to be below the 6% margin guidance.

A：The company is pursuing vertical integration, automation, and strategic sourcing initiatives as new avenues to achieve cost savings. Vertical integration involves integrating some components in their Mexico factories and expanding that practice in North America, which is expected to lead to significant savings and supply chain stability.

A：The strategic sourcing process involves taking apart every single component, weighing it, and conducting a global assessment to determine what the cost should be for replacement components. This process is elaborate and complex, which is why it is not done annually.

A：The company aims to balance sales growth and its 16% EBIT margin by focusing on delivering growth, which is seen as creating the highest value. They reinvest the margins created in excess of the 15-16% range into further acceleration of the business.

A：In the third quarter, the company experienced healthy share gains from new product introductions, which offset the losses from the first half of the year. However, during the promotion period in the fourth quarter, the overall promotional activity was a larger portion of the quarter, impacting share gains. The company decided to hold its ground during the promotion period, resulting in continued gains with new products but not picking up a lot more share.

A：The company does not expect any moderation in the absolute number of replacement volumes, which have been stable for an extended period. The percentage of replacement demand relative to total sales is expected to stay above 60% for the foreseeable future, driven by the current level of discretionary demand. If housing turnover improves, it could lead to a decrease in the percentage of replacement sales.