Newell Raises Outlook as Sales Return to Growth
The consumer-products maker lifted its normalized EPS forecast to $0.73 to $0.77 a share.
Newell Brands (NWL), the consumer-products maker, returned to year-over-year sales growth for the first time in more than four years, with second-quarter revenue rising 3.0% to $1.994 billion.
The advance marked a turn from sales declines of 1.1% in the first quarter and 2.7% in the fourth quarter of 2024. Core sales grew 2.3% after falling in both prior periods, while gross margin expanded 5.3 percentage points from a year earlier to 40.7%.
Net income increased to $106 million from $46 million, and diluted earnings rose to $0.25 a share from $0.11. Normalized earnings climbed to $0.42 a share from $0.24, while normalized EBITDA increased 45% to $406 million. Profitability included about $126 million of pretax recoveries tied to tariffs expensed in 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, adding a combined $0.21 a diluted share.
Learning & Development led the sales gain, with revenue rising to $851 million from $809 million and core sales increasing 4.9%. Growth in Baby and Writing accompanied an expansion in the segment’s normalized operating margin to 36.9% from 25.6%.
Home & Commercial Solutions revenue edged higher, though core sales declined 0.4% as weakness in Commercial outweighed growth in Kitchen and Home Fragrance. Outdoor & Recreation posted 3.7% core-sales growth, but its normalized operating margin narrowed to 3.8% from 5.6%.
Newell now expects full-year net-sales growth of 1% to 2% and core-sales growth of as much as 1%, raising the lower end of both ranges. It forecasts a normalized operating margin of 10.0% to 10.4%, up from its previous 8.6% to 9.2% range.
Year-to-date operating cash outflow narrowed to $204 million from $271 million as working capital improved and incentive-compensation payments declined. The tariff recovery remained uncollected at quarter-end, and the company’s roughly $400 million full-year cash-flow forecast assumes it receives substantially all of the recoveries by year-end.
After the quarter closed, Newell replaced its secured revolving credit line with a new $800 million asset-based facility and extended the general maturity to 2031.