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Newell's Shares Plunge on Soft Q3 Earnings & Sales, Trimmed Outlook

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Key Takeaways

  • Newell Brands' Q3 sales and EPS missed estimates despite a slight year-over-year profit gain.
  • Net sales fell 7.2% to $1.89B, with declines across Home, Learning and Outdoor segments.
  • The company cut its 2025 outlook, citing higher tariffs and softer-than-expected demand.

Newell Brands Inc. (NWL - Free Report) posted lower-than-anticipated third-quarter 2025 results, with the top and bottom lines falling short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. While the bottom line exceeded year over year, the top line declined.

The company posted normalized earnings per share (EPS) of 17 cents, which lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 18 cents. However, the metric came above a penny from the year-ago quarter.

Net sales dipped 7.2% year over year to $1.81 billion on lower core sales, offset by favorable foreign exchange. The metric missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.89 billion. Core sales fell 7.4% year over year. 

The normalized gross margin contracted 90 bps to 34.5%, reversing the eighth straight quarter of year-over-year increase. Meanwhile, the normalized operating margin dropped 60 bps year over year to 8.9%. Normalized EBITDA was $225 million, down 25% from $250 million seen in the year-ago period. Our model anticipated a decline of 4.7% in adjusted EBITDA for the same quarter.

Newell Brands Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Newell Brands Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Newell Brands Inc. price-eps-surprise | Newell Brands Inc. Quote

Newell Brands shares have lost around 20% in premarket trading due to softer-than-expected results, continued sales declines and tariff risks, disappointing investors. The company slashed its outlook due to higher tariff costs. In the past three months, the company’s shares have fallen 17.2% compared with the industry’s 5.6% decline.

NWL’s Segmental Details

Net sales in the Home & Commercial Solutions segment were $942 million, down 5.8% from the year-ago period. The decrease was due to a 9.8% decline in core sales, offset by favorable foreign exchange rates. We had expected sales of $1 billion for the segment.

The Learning and Development segment recorded net sales of $681 million, down 5% from the year-ago quarter. Core sales fell 5.6%, offset by favorable foreign exchange rates. We had expected sales of $709.9 million.

The Outdoor and Recreation segment’s net sales were $183 million, flat year over year. Core sales fell 0.9%, offset by the equal impact of favorable foreign exchange. We had expected sales of $165 million.

Other Financial Details of Newell

This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $229 million, net long-term debt of $4.5 billion, outstanding debt of $4.8 billion and shareholders’ equity of $2.7 billion.

NWL provided $103 million in cash from operating activities during the first nine months of 2025.

NWL’s Q4 & 2025 Outlook

Newell initiated its outlook for the fourth quarter and updated its full-year 2025 guidance to reflect the anticipated impact of increased tariffs. For the fourth quarter of 2025, the company expects net sales to fall 1-4% and core sales to decline between 3% and 5%, with a normalized operating margin in the range of 9-9.5% and normalized EPS of $0.16-$0.20.

For 2025, the company expects an incremental cash tariff cost of approximately $180 million compared with 2024, up from $155 million predicted earlier. The gross profit impact before mitigating efforts is anticipated to be approximately $115 million or $0.23 per share after tax versus 2024.The updated 2025 outlook calls for net sales to fall 4.5-5% and core sales to decline between 4% and 5%, a normalized operating margin of 8.4-8.6% and normalized EPS between $0.56 and $0.60. Due to the higher tariff-related inventory costs, Newell also revised its 2025 operating cash flow guidance to a range of $250-$300 million, down from $400-$450 million expected previously.

Newell had earlier anticipated net and core sales to decline between 2% and 3%, a normalized operating margin of 9.0-9.5% and normalized EPS between $0.66 and $0.70 for 2025.

Stocks to Consider in the Consumer Staples Space

United Natural Foods (UNFI - Free Report) is a key distributor of natural, organic and specialty food and non-food products. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for United Natural Foods' current financial-year sales and earnings indicates growth of 2.4% and 167.6%, respectively, from the prior-year levels. UNFI delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 416.2%, on average.

Celsius Holdings, Inc. (CELH - Free Report) , which specializes in nutritional functional foods, beverages and dietary supplements, starches and nutrition ingredients, currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Celsius’ current financial-year earnings is expected to rise 54.3% from the corresponding year-ago reported figure. CELH delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.4%, on average.

Post Holdings (POST - Free Report) , which is a consumer-packaged goods holding company, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). POST delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 21.4%, on average. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Post Holdings’ current financial-year earnings indicates growth of 11% from the year-ago number. 

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