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Whirlpool Up 44% in 3 Months, Gains on Air-Purifier Demand

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The pandemic induced stay-at-home practices and increased focus on hygiene is turning out to be an upside for certain household appliances, including cleaning equipment’s, kitchen essentials and air purifiers. With rising sales of such item, some well-known appliance providers such as Whirlpool Corporation (WHR - Free Report) have garnered positive market sentiments.

Whirlpool currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The stock has surged 44.6% in the past three months compared with the industry’s rally of 42.5%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

That said, let’s look into some of the aspects that are turning to be the aces in Whirlpool’s stack lately.

Air-Purifiers Sales Rise is a Key Catalyst

Products that help maintain hygiene and cleanliness are perhaps the only things that can combat the coronavirus, as a successful vaccine is still far from reality. Since COVID-19 is airborne, air purifiers have seen a surge in residential and commercial demand as a preventive measure. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, air purifiers can diminish airborne contaminants, which comprise viruses in any confined space. However, one would still need to use it along with other best practices.

Industry experts have pointed out that the global portable air purifiers market is expected to reach $13.75 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 12.1% between 2020 and 2027. Whirlpool is poised to gain from this trend, due to the increasing popularity of its HEPA Air Purifier, which is capable of removing as much as 99.97% of particles from the air.

Improving Sales Trend Across Markets

While reporting second-quarter 2020 results, management had commented that the company is witnessing gradual improvement in demand across many market regions, especially in China. This can be attributed to the gradual easing of lockdown regulations. Further, government stimulus to support consumer spending are also likely to act as an impetus for improving sales trends in the consumer electronics and appliances market.

Moreover, the onset of the virus has pushed up at-home dining and cooking practices. Household cleaning gadgets are also gaining prominence. Such inclinations are likely to be a boon for Whirlpool’s kitchen and cleaning appliances product lines.

Other Key Upsides

Whirlpool is undertaking measures to protect margins and enhance liquidity position, amid the pandemic. Well these actions aided the company to generated nearly $180 million in cost savings, year-to-date, when it reported second-quarter results. Moving ahead, the company targets more than $500 million of net cost takeout from actions like curtailing structural and discretionary costs, capturing raw material deflation opportunity, effectively managing working capital as well as syncing supply chain and labor levels with demand.

Wrapping Up

We expect that the aforementioned upsides coupled with efforts to enhance e-commerce and improving direct-to-consumer capabilities will support the company’s top line in the forthcoming periods.

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