In a stagnant housing market, fewer people are buying dishwashers and dryers. To forget their troubles, they're going on vacation.
Perhaps there's a danger in reading too much into the earnings reports of Whirlpool and JetBlue, as each is dealing with its own problems, but there are lessons in the numbers about the current state of the U.S. consumer.
Late Monday saw large appliance maker Whirlpool deliver a quarter that was downbeat to say the least: Management said that its recovery was proceeding more slowly than hoped, with ongoing pressure on margins and sales leading to a major cut to full-year guidance. The shares are trading at levels not seen since the end of the Financial Crisis, in early 2009.
Whirlpool reported negative $1.08 billion in free cash flow for the quarter, worse than analysts expected, and it seems there is little it can do to fight against a stagnant housing market, which has caused much of its pain recently. The shares peaked in 2021, when the pandemic era saw millions of people take advantage of ultralow interest rates to move and renovate their homes.
Without that supportive backdrop, Whirlpool is fighting against the tide. The company's annus horribilis already included a dividend suspension, tariff pain, and struggles to reduce its debt.
JetBlue's mixed results, which came out at the same time as Whirlpool's, were enough to send the stock soaring, as investors cheered its increased full-year revenue outlook.
The high price of oil is weighing heavily on JetBlue, and with airfares going ever higher, carriers are fighting over the pool of premium passengers who are less price sensitive. Historically that hasn't been JetBlue's strong suit. Its chart looks nearly as ugly as Whirlpool's, and it's never regained its prepandemic mojo.
So the stock's increase comes after plenty of pain-and likely reflects a short squeeze given short interest is nearly a third of its float-as well as genuine relief that management said it was on track to return to sustained operating profits in 2027 and generate positive free cash flow in 2028. It still managed to show lower-than-expected nonfuel costs and said it had sufficient financing options available.
The comparison between Whirlpool and JetBlue is hardly apples-to-apples. Nonetheless, it speaks to consumers' ongoing mind-set, which has prioritized travel even as budgets remain squeezed.
Royal Caribbean stock was jumping on Tuesday as well, as the company raised its full-year guidance on the strength of above-average bookings.
Marriott International shares climbed for 11 straight days this month, its longest winning streak since 2019, and last week United Airlines said its total revenue per available seat-mile rose 15.9% year over year, its "best quarterly unit revenue growth since the pandemic." Even though high oil prices are hurting a number of operators, they haven't dented the demand side of the equation much yet.
The Conference Board's latest consumer confidence survey found that Americans' expected vacation spending dipped -- albeit from an upwardly revised reading in September -- while their planned spending on durable goods dropped across the board, pulling back more than 1% for October.
With mortgage rates over 7% and existing home prices up 54% nationwide since 2020, housing affordability remains a major issue with no easy fixes, and that's weighed on stocks tied to the sector; the iShares U.S. Home Construction exchange-traded fund is down more than 6% in 2026, even as the S&P 500 has risen more than 12%.
In short, it's tough to be a consumer company right now, as inflation remains stubbornly high, but not all spending is on the chopping block.
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