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Text: Our actual results could differ materially from these statements due to many factors discussed in our latest 10-K, 10-Q and other periodic reports.
We believe these measures are important indicators of our operations, as they exclude items that may not be indicative of results from our ongoing business operations.
We also think the adjusted measures will provide you a better baseline for analyzing trends in our ongoing business operations.
Listeners are directed to the supplemental information package posted on the Investor Relations section of our website for the reconciliation of non-GAAP items to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.
At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode.
As a reminder, we'd ask that participants ask no more than two questions.
Today, in addition to our third quarter results, I will be sharing our new long-term value creation goals.
Despite operating in a supply constraint and inflationary environment, we continue to consistently demonstrate strong results at or above our previous long-term targets.
We want to take the opportunity to share our insights and expectations for our business moving forward.
Now, turning to our third quarter highlights on Slide 5.
We anticipate that in the third quarter we would face both a constrained supply chain alongside elevated inflation.
The exceptional execution of the actions we put in place and the sustained robust consumer demand delivered yet another quarter of very strong results.
We delivered revenue growth of 4% year-over-year, which represents growth of 8% compared to 2019.
Next, the decisive actions we took early this year delivered strong double-digit margins of 11.1%, which largely offset the expected cost inflation of 650 basis points.
Additionally, we generated positive adjusted free cash flow of $1.3 billion, a $1.1 billion increase compared to a year ago.
Cash generation was led by strong earnings in the successful completion of divestitures in the first half of the year.
Lastly, we opportunistically executed $441 million in share buybacks in the third quarter, and added to our previous investments in Elica India by acquiring the majority interest in the company.
Our ability to successfully deliver strong results in a difficult operating environment gives us the confidence to increase our guidance to approximately $26.25 per share.
Turning to Slide 6, we show the drivers of our third quarter EBIT margin.
Raw material inflation, particularly steel and resins resulted in an unfavorable impact of 650 basis points.
This was fully offset by our combined price mix and net cost actions.
Price and mix delivered 600 basis points of margin expansion led by the execution of the previously announced cost base price increases.
Additionally, ongoing cost productivity initiatives delivered 50 basis points of net cost margin improvement.
Our ongoing cost initiatives more than offset increased logistics, labor and other supply chain premiums we and many companies are facing.
Lastly, increased investments in marketing and technology and the continued impact from currency in Latin America impacted margins by a combined 75 basis points.
Overall, we are very pleased to be delivering above our previous long-term EBIT margin commitments and are confident this positive momentum will continue to drive very strong results throughout 2021 and beyond.
Now, turning to Slide 7, I will discuss our revised full-year 2021 guidance.
We remain confident in both the actions we have put in place to protect margins and in the strong execution capabilities we continue to demonstrate.
We expect to drive strong net sales growth of approximately 13%, and EBIT margins of 10.8%.
Additionally, we continue to expect to deliver $1.7 billion in adjusted free cash flow, or 7.7% of net sales.
Finally, we are raising our ongoing earnings per share guidance to approximately $26.25, a year-over-year increase of over 40%.
Turning to Slide 8, we show the drivers of our increased ongoing EBIT margin guidance.
We continue to expect 600 basis points of margin expansion driven by price mix.
We have increased our expectation for net cost takeout to 200 basis points as we realized further efficiencies and continue to focus on cost productivity.
Within our net cost results, we are fully offsetting the inefficiencies across the supply chain, notably in distribution and labor.
While our expectations remain unchanged, we continuously monitor cost inflation globally, largely in steel and resins.
And still expect our business to be negatively impacted by about $1 billion, with the peak increase already realized in the third quarter.
Inflation is fully offset by our price mix actions.
We continue to expect increased investments in marketing and technology, and unfavorable currency primarily in Latin America to impact margins by 125 basis points.
Overall, we are confident in our ability to continue to navigate in this environment and deliver 10.8% EBIT margin, representing our fourth consecutive year of margin expansion.
Turning to Slide 9, we provide an update on our capital allocation priorities for 2021.
Our commitment to fund innovation and growth remains unchanged, as we expect to invest over $1 billion in capital expenditures and research and development.
Next, with a clear focus on returning significant levels of cash to shareholders, we expect to repurchase over $940 million of shares in 2021, which includes over $300 million in the fourth quarter.
Including dividends, we expect to return a total of over $1.2 billion to shareholders this year.
Turning to Slide 11, I'll review our third quarter regional results.
In North America, we delivered 5% revenue growth with sustained and robust consumer demand in the region.
Additionally, we delivered another quarter of strong EBIT margin driven by disciplined execution of cost-based price increases.
Demand for our products remains high, as we operate in a constrained environment, which we expect to persist into 2022.
Lastly, the region's outstanding results demonstrate the fundamental strength and agility of our business model.
Turning to Slide 12, I'll review our third quarter results for our Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
The region delivered stable revenue year-over-year, which represents growth of over 15%, compared to 2019.
Cost-based price increases partially offset the impact of inflation in the quarter.
We remain confident in the actions we have in place.
Our long-term turnaround plan for the region remains on track.
Turning to Slide 13, I'll review our third quarter results for our Latin America region.
Net sales increased by 17%, led by cost-based price increases and strong demand across Mexico.
The region delivered very strong EBIT margins of 8.7%, despite supply constraints, inflation and continued negative impact from currency.
Turning to Slide 14, I'll review our third quarter results for our Asia region.
The region's revenue decline was entirely driven by the Whirlpool China divestiture.
Excluding this, the region grew by 3% year-over-year or 10% compared to 2019.
As expected, the region continued to recover from COVID-related shutdowns experienced in the first half of the year.
The region delivered very strong EBIT margins of 8.6%, driven by cost-based price actions and positive impact from our Whirlpool China divestiture.
Lastly, our increased investments in Elica PB India enhances our built-in cooking product offerings, strengthens our distribution network and is expected to be margin accretive to the region.
And before I look forward, I will take a moment to look back.
We are a 110-year-old Company with a legacy of success and a vision anchored on improving life at home.
From our introduction of a first electric wringer washer and first stand mix in the early 1900 to our launch of the first French door build-in refrigerator, and our leadership in connected appliances today.
We relentlessly reinvent ourselves with consumer at the heart of everything we do.
These new long-term value creation goals build on our strong foundation, but reflect the fact that we are very different Whirlpool than 10 years ago, operating in a very different world.
Today, we are operating in a supply constraint and inflationary environment, which is negatively impacting most industries across the world.
Yet, we're on track of year of record performance.
In 2020, the world was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
And before that, numerous other unforeseen global challenges.
We have faced many significantly challenging environment and yet, we're on track for our fourth consecutive year of record results.
We have an agile and resilient business model, which enables us to succeed in any operating environment.
Our increased value creation goals demonstrate our confidence in our long-term success and that supported by strong underlying drivers such as positive outlook on housing, strong replacement demand, and evolving consumer habits.
Additionally, our demonstrated value creating go-to-market approach, lower cost base and compelling innovation pipeline positioned us for continued success.
Our new long-term value creation goals reflect our confidence in the different Whirlpool in this different world.
Now, turning to Slide 17, you will see that we have exceeded our existing targets.
We first introduced this target in 2017, with a clear focus on value creation and a balanced approach to grow profitably.
We've been consistently delivering at or above all of these targets.
While we're pleased with our progress, we're not done yet.
I'm turning to Slide 18, I will review our new long-term value creation goals.
We now expect revenue to grow at a rate of 5% to 6%, almost doubling our previous goal of approximately 3%.
Next, we are increasing our EBIT margin expectation from approximately 10% to a range of 11% to 12%.
This is a level of performance that our business is absolutely capable of achieving.
Additionally, we expect to continue to convert cash at a high level and have increased our adjusted free cash flow as a percentage of net sales from 6% plus to a range of 7% to 8%.
Lastly, we expect to deliver return on invested capital of 15% to 16%, an increase from our previous target of 12% to 14%.
We are confident in our future success and achieving these goals will continue to drive significant shareholder return.
Now, turning to Slide 19, I will discuss why we expect revenue growth of 5% to 6%.
Demand in our industry is segmented by three primary purchase drivers: housing, replacement and discretionary.
We're entering a period with strong growth catalyst across all three categories.
First, let's begin with new housing construction.
Housing remained well below historical and structurally needed levels for over a decade.
This is compounded by pent-up demand for millennials that we're only now beginning to see.
Lastly, interest rates remain at historically low levels.
Second, let me discuss replacement.
We're entering a period in which the natural replacement cycle will move from a headwind to a tailwind.
This is driven by elevated usage rates and a larger install base of appliances, which will need to be replaced.
Also, with our install base of connected appliances, we have clear data on how our consumers are using our products, and they're using them more.
For example, consumers are using our connected wall ovens and free standing ranges twice as often as before COVID.
Even more important, as hybrid work model is becoming more widespread, we do expect appliance usage levels to remain significantly higher than pre-COVID, ultimately driving shorter replacement cycles.
Third, let's review discretionary purchases.
COVID has brought a fundamental reorientation of consumer toward home, which will not just go away.
In addition, consumer remains healthy with increased disposable income and more equity in their home, which ultimately drives higher investments in the home.
To recap, with strong positive demand trends across all three segments.
Next, turning to Slide 20, I will discuss additional revenue catalyst.
During this pandemic, we all witnessed a significant increase in all e-commerce activities, which we do not expect to revert back to pre-COVID levels.
Over the past years, we've built our own Whirlpool direct-to-consumer business that represents today approximately $1 billion.
Our multi-year investment in our strategic digital transformation has been and will continue to deliver growth rate of over 25%.
Lastly, we continue to enter and expand upon new ecosystems, which present significant new revenue opportunities.
This was demonstrated when we entered the consumables detergent segment business with the launch of our ultra concentrated Swash detergent.
We offer an end-to-end experience where the consumer can fill his or her detergent for a bulk dispenser in the unit, be alter when replacement is needed and order through our app for convenient at home delivery.
This is one of many applications where we have earned the right to win.
Moving to Slide 21, I would like to address why we're positioned to capitalize on these opportunities and grow profitably.
As we exited the Great Recession of 2009 to 2011, we took many difficult actions enabling the low fixed cost position we have to date.
We removed over $1 billion in costs by reducing our fixed asset base by over 30% in just the last five years.
Next, we have a proven value creating approach to promotions and our relentless focus on cost and complexity reduction.
All of these are evidenced by our continued demonstration of financial success.
And we're not done yet.
For example, today, we are absorbing significant costs associated with operating in an inflationary environment.
Lastly, we will continue to prioritize investments to drive innovation and growth.
Now, turning to Slide 22, I will review our adjusted free cash flow and return on invested capital expectations.
Large acquisition-related items are behind us.
Additionally, a seasonally balanced approach and disciplined working capital management position us to drive higher cash conversion.
Next, we will opportunistically seek bolt-on acquisition targets at our earnings per share accretive soon after acquisition.
And with our significant reduced asset base, we are positioned to continue to deliver strong return on our investments.
Now, turning to Slide 23, let me recap what you heard over the past few minutes.
Q3 again impressively demonstrated our ability to operate in a very challenging environment and delivered a very strong operating results.
Sustained healthy market demand and strong operational execution gives us the confidence to increase our ongoing earnings per share to approximately $26.25, while delivering adjusted free cash flow of $1.7 billion.
Next, we are unwavering on our commitment to drive strong shareholder value as we expected to deliver record ongoing earnings per share and return over $1.2 billion to shareholders in 2021.
As we look beyond 2021, we firmly believe we have demonstrated that our business is structurally different and well positioned to again build on our record results.
Lastly, our new long-term value creation goals reflect the fact that we're a different Whirlpool operating in a different world.
And in early 2022, we plan to hold an Investor Day, at which time we look forward to discussing our view of our business in greater depth.

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expect full-year 2021 net sales growth of about 13 percent.
increased fy earnings per diluted share guidance to about $27.80 on a gaap basis and about $26.25 on an ongoing basis.
fy cash provided by operating activities, adjusted free cash flow guidance remain unchanged.

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