Latest news with #BekoEurope
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Prediction: Whirlpool Will Soar Over the Next Few Years. Here's 1 Reason Why.
Key Points Investors need to be patient, but the tariffs will inevitably improve Whirlpool's competitive position in the US market. The tariffs on its Asian competitors are significant and, if maintained, could prove a game-changer for the company. 10 stocks we like better than Whirlpool › Some positive things are going Whirlpool's (NYSE: WHR) way of late. The home appliance maker looks set to be a net winner over the long term from the Trump administration's recent tariff actions. The company's decision last year to exit its European business (which combined with Arcelik to form Beko Europe) should magnify the tariff's benefits further by increasing the company's exposure to North America. Whirlpool's near-term headwinds That said, the company needs to overcome some near-term headwinds, and the irony is that they are caused by the self-same tariff actions that will help the company over the long term. As recently discussed, Whirlpool's immediate problem is that Asian competitors are preloading product into the market in anticipation of higher tariffs (as they did in the first quarter) or to take advantage of any tariff pauses (as they did in the second quarter). As a result, Whirlpool's markets are suffering intense promotional activity as its competitors sell their inventory into the market through 2025. According to Whirlpool CEO Marc Bitzer on a recent earnings call, "we expect that foreign competitors will begin to experience the full implications of tariffs and appliances as they sell down their preloaded inventory in the back half of 2025." Bitzer's comment speaks to a likely continuation of the near-term pressure that caused the company to cut its full-year guidance. Whirlpool's long-term growth prospects Still, it also refers to the substantive tariffs currently applied to Asian competitors. Whirlpool outlined some of them on its earnings presentation, with imports from China tariffed at 44% to 61%, Korea at 29%, Vietnam at 25%, Thailand at 39%, etc. While these rates may change, and its competitors can expand investment to produce more in the U.S., 80% of what Whirlpool sells in the U.S. is made in the U.S. Simply put, Whirlpool is best placed to benefit from the new tariff regime, and that should become clear enough as the full impact of tariffs kicks in. As such, Whirlpool stock has excellent upside prospects. Should you buy stock in Whirlpool right now? Before you buy stock in Whirlpool, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Whirlpool wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $635,544!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,099,758!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,046% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 181% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025 Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Whirlpool. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Prediction: Whirlpool Will Soar Over the Next Few Years. Here's 1 Reason Why. was originally published by The Motley Fool
The Guardian
27-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Grenfell fire fridge maker accused of safety test failings in council lawsuit
The company that made the fridge-freezer blamed for starting the Grenfell Tower fire has been accused in a lawsuit lodged by the local council of failing to run adequate safety tests on that model of appliance. The Royal Borough Kensington and Chelsea has brought a lawsuit against Hotpoint-maker Beko Europe, previously Whirlpool, as part of wider legal action against companies it believes are culpable for the fire eight years ago that killed more than 70 people. RBKC, which has brought the suit alongside the borough's Tenant Management Organisation, was heavily criticised for its handling of the fire and subsequent response in a public inquiry into the tragedy. The local authority is suing a range of companies at the high court for more than £358m, including those involved with the refurbishment and cladding as well as the maker of the Hotpoint fridge-freezer where the public inquiry concluded the blaze started. In a legal filing, the borough said that the appliance contained materials that could 'catch fire and burn easily', according to the Financial Times, which first reported the council's allegations against the appliance maker. Lawyers representing the claimants argue that the company did not adequately test the materials used in the model against applicable fire standards. The lawyers claim that if the materials – especially plastic backing, foam and polystyrene – had been tested they would have failed under the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994. It 'should have been obvious to any reasonably competent designer, manufacturer and/or supplier of the fridge-freezer that the plastic backing was not resistant to ignition and/or the spread of fire', the legal claim states. Defence documents have not yet been filed with the court, but Whirlpool said that it was 'vigorously defending' the legal action. 'Whirpool Corporation disputes and is vigorously defending the proceedings brought by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea,' the company said. 'It would not be appropriate to comment further on ongoing litigation.' Turkey-based Arçelik and New York-listed Whirlpool struck a deal last year to combine their European domestic appliance businesses under Beko Europe. At the public inquiry, Whirlpool claimed that the fire could have been started by a lit cigarette rather than an electrical fault. However, inquiry chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick dismissed this assertion as 'fanciful', saying that the evidence left him in 'no doubt that the fire originated in the large fridge-freezer'. While RBKC is pursuing a number of actions at the high court it also faced strong criticism at the inquiry. Quentin Marshall, chair of the borough's housing scrutiny committee with oversight of Grenfell Tower, told the inquiry that the council 'lacked a little humanity' in its dealings with residents before the 2017 fire. His admission came after it emerged that he had personally dismissed residents' complaints about refurbishment works as 'grossly exaggerated'. The council has said it has made significant changes to its operations since 2017. A spokesperson for the council said: 'We have issued legal proceedings against a number of companies, in line with the council's ongoing commitment to ensure those parties pay a share of the costs incurred against the public purse.'
