Why Newell Brands Missed the Mark by a Mile

Companies and Brands

Published: August 6, 2018 1:35 pm

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 7:49 pm

When Newell Brands Inc. (NYSE: NWL) released its second-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Monday, the company said that it had $0.82 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.2 billion in revenue. The consensus estimates had called for $0.77 in EPS and revenue of $3.83 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.87 and $4.05 billion in revenue.

The huge loss in revenues reflects the lost sales from divestitures completed in 2017, the negative impact of the adoption of the 2018 revenue recognition standard. The decline in core sales was primarily attributable to the retailer disruption to the Baby business created by the liquidation of Toys ‘R’ Us stores in the United States, significant inventory destocking in the Writing office superstore and distributive trade channels and the absence of the prior year Slime pipeline build on Elmer’s.

For its segments, the company reported as follows:

Food and Appliances net sales decreased 11.9% year over year to $621.3 million.
Home and Outdoor Living net sales decreased 6.7% to $741.7 million.
Learnings and Development net sales decreased 15.3% to $838.7 million.

Looking ahead to the 2018 full year, the company expects to see EPS in the range of $2.45 to $2.65 and net sales between $8.7 billion and $9.0 billion. These are down from the previous guidance of $2.65 to $2.85 in EPS and $14.4 billion to $14.8 billion in net sales.

Consensus estimates call for $2.62 in EPS and $14.24 billion in revenue for the full year.

Shares of Newell Brands were last seen down about 13% at $23.03, with a consensus analyst price target of $30.58 and a 52-week trading range of $22.60 to $51.57.