Whirlpool
Through the investors’ lenses
Each of these investors has said in public what they look at before buying. Click a name to see how this company measures up — a tick where it passes one of their tests, a cross where it does not.
Warren Buffett 2/4
| Measure | WHR | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner earnings | $267.00m | positive | ✓ |
| Return on equity | 11.7% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 2.26x | median 0.79x | ✗ |
| Operating margin | 5.4% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
Passes 2 of 4. To be clear: Warren Buffett has never said anything about Whirlpool. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Terry Smith 0/4
| Measure | WHR | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 9.4% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Cash conversion | 1.48x | median 1.78x | ✗ |
| Operating margin | 5.4% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 2.26x | median 0.79x | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 4. To be clear: Terry Smith has never said anything about Whirlpool. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Charlie Munger 1/3
| Measure | WHR | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 9.4% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Return on equity | 11.7% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 5.4% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 3. To be clear: Charlie Munger has never said anything about Whirlpool. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Chuck Akre 1/4
| Measure | WHR | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | 11.7% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 2.26x | median 0.79x | ✗ |
| Cash conversion | 1.48x | median 1.78x | ✗ |
| Return on equity, sustained | 6 of 10 | 8 of 10 above median | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 4. To be clear: Chuck Akre has never said anything about Whirlpool. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Philip Fisher 1/4
| Measure | WHR | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 5.4% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
| Net margin | 2.0% | median 10.2% | ✗ |
| Return on capital employed | 9.4% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Operating margin, held or improving | 5.4% | 10-yr median 5.3% | ✓ |
Passes 1 of 4. To be clear: Philip Fisher has never said anything about Whirlpool. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Walter Schloss 0/2
| Measure | WHR | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 0.76x | median 1.25x | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 2.26x | median 0.79x | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 2. To be clear: Walter Schloss has never said anything about Whirlpool. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Benjamin Graham 0/2
| Measure | WHR | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 0.76x | 2.00x published | ✗ |
| Long-term debt to working capital | — | 1.00x published | — |
| Positive earnings, ten years running | 1 yr | 10 published | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 2. To be clear: Benjamin Graham has never said anything about Whirlpool. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Joel Greenblatt 0/1
| Measure | WHR | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 9.4% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 1. To be clear: Joel Greenblatt has never said anything about Whirlpool. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Peter Lynch 0/2
| Measure | WHR | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt to equity | 2.26x | median 0.79x | ✗ |
| Net margin | 2.0% | median 10.2% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 2. To be clear: Peter Lynch has never said anything about Whirlpool. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
| Basis | Payout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | 93.6% | whyThe figure most screeners publish. |
| Operating cash flow | 63.8% | whyBefore capital spending. |
| Free cash flow | 370.4% | whyAfter maintaining the business. |
Spread between highest and lowest: 306.5 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.
Coverage rating 0 / 100 — Not covered. ? Peer standing 0/50Direction 0/30Stability 0/20
Against its own history: 370.4% this year vs 47.6% median over the prior 5. A gap this size is usually a one-off — acquisition, settlement, cyclical trough — not a dividend that stopped being funded. The rating reads the latest year; the table shows the trend.
Free cash flow payout, last 6 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 370.4% |
| 2024-12-31 | 100.0% |
| 2023-12-31 | 104.9% |
| 2022-12-31 | 47.6% |
| 2021-12-31 | 20.5% |
| 2020-12-31 | 28.5% |
Coverage worsened sharply this year, 100.0% to 370.4%, after no clear trend before it. One year is not a trend, but it is worth knowing which direction the last one moved.
0% of the 44 consumer discretionary here pay out more — at the demanding end.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $5.30 ÷ diluted EPS $5.66
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $300m ÷ operating cash flow $470m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $300m ÷ (operating cash flow $470m − capex $389m)
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-11 · accession 0000106640-26-000009
All public at sec.gov — you should not have to take our word for it.
Computed straight from SEC XBRL. A number that looks wrong to you is more useful to us than agreement — tell us.
What the free cash flow payout ratio measures, and where every company here sits on it.
Also on: covered on earnings, not on the basis that applies · rated not covered · when it files.
When this changes
Every figure above is recomputed whenever Whirlpool files. The monthly letter carries what filed, what moved, and one finding computed across every company here.