A Letter to Shareholders

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Navigating a Volatile Landscape

As I reflect on 2025, I would characterize it as a year where Whirlpool Corporation demonstrated resilience in the face of unforeseen challenges. The convergence of external headwinds including a U.S. housing market constrained by the mortgage “lock-in effect,” which kept existing home sales at 30-year lows, the absorption of significant tariff costs while industry pricing lagged, and a weakening consumer demand, resulted in temporary pressure to our margins. The fundamental challenge of 2025 was home affordability in the U.S., which suppressed housing market activity and, consequently, discretionary demand for home appliances. Furthermore, the introduction of new trade tariffs created a unique dynamic where importers flooded the industry with pre-tariff inventory, delaying the benefits expected for domestic producers.

Despite these macro shocks, we remained focused on what we can control. We executed the largest product refresh in over a decade, delivered approximately $200 million in structural cost take out initiatives to partially offset tariff impacts, and delivered another strong year in our MDA Latin America and SDA Global segments.

In 2025, we also strengthened our competitive advantages, advanced our portfolio transformation and positioned our company for future growth.

Operational Highlights and Strategic Milestones

• Portfolio Transformation: We continued to reshape Whirlpool Corporation into a higher-growth, higher-margin business. We successfully reduced our ownership stake in Whirlpool of India from a majority position to a minority stake of approximately 40%. This move aligns with our capital allocation priorities, allowing us to utilize the proceeds to pay down debt, while retaining a position in a high-growth country. The portfolio transformation was an intense effort over the past years, absorbing significant financial and management resources - but the “heavy lifting” is now finally behind us. Going forward, our business is built on three strong business units - North America Major Appliances and Latin America Major Appliances, both with strong #1 positions in their respective segments, and Global Small Domestic Appliances, which holds the #1 mixer position in the world.

• North America Product Leadership: We executed the largest portfolio refresh in over a decade, transitioning over 30% of our products. The success of these new products is evidenced by the significant flooring gains and share expansion achieved in the second half of the year.

• SDA Global Strength: Our Small Domestic Appliance business continues to deliver exceptional results. The segment achieved 9% net sales growth for the full year and expanded EBIT margins to 16%. This growth is fueled by innovation beyond the stand mixer, including success in espresso, blenders and other food preparation categories, as well as the strong expansion of our online presence.

• Leadership for the Next Chapter: To guide us through this next phase of growth, we have appointed new leadership deeply rooted in our operations. I am pleased to have Roxanne Warner as our new Chief Financial Officer, Juan Carlos Puente leading North America and Global Strategic Sourcing, and Ludo Beaufils taking on expanded leadership for MDA Latin America alongside SDA Global. Their combined experience is vital as we execute our strategic priorities.

Looking Ahead to 2026

We enter 2026 with confidence in the long-term fundamentals of our industry. Our investment thesis remains clear: Whirlpool Corporation will be the winner in this environment over time.

• Leveraging our product introductions and further driving innovation: In 2025, we launched the most new products in over a decade. This product refresh was incredibly successful and will deliver healthy organic premium growth. In addition, we are launching approximately 100 new products in 2026, including the new KitchenAid Artisan Plus Stand Mixer and the Whirlpool Laundry Tower.

• We will be a net winner in the new tariff environment: We produce more of our appliances in the U.S. than any of our industry peers—80% of the major appliances we sell in the U.S. come from our U.S. factories. As the industry stabilizes and importers face the full reality of tariff costs, our domestic manufacturing footprint provides a distinct competitive advantage. We are reinforcing this strength with our “Started in America, Stayed in America” campaign, highlighting our 110-year+ legacy of U.S. manufacturing. In addition, we are strengthening our domestic footprint: We recently announced a $300 million investment in our U.S. laundry operations, creating 400-600 new jobs across our Clyde and Marion, Ohio, facilities, reflecting our confidence in Whirlpool Corporation's long-term strength.

• No company is better positioned in an eventual housing recovery than Whirlpool: The U.S. housing market is undersupplied, the housing stock is at a record age, and home equity is at all-time highs. While we expect the recovery to be gradual, we believe the eventual upturn is inevitable. We might first see a slow recovery on existing home sales, which has historically been the key driver to stimulate discretionary demand, but even the pace of new home sales will eventually pick up and Whirlpool is, by a wide margin, the largest supplier of builders and the pro channel in the industry.

For 2026, we are guiding to like-for-like revenue growth^(a) of approximately 5% and ongoing EBIT margin^(a) expansion to between 5.5% and 5.8%. We expect to generate free cash flow^(a) of $400 to $500 million, driven by improved earnings and working capital efficiency.

We are writing the next chapter of our history. The “choppy sea” we navigated in 2025 required us to make bold decisions, but those actions have charted the right course. We are well-positioned to benefit from the housing recovery, and we have the right team, the right products, and the right footprint to deliver value.

I want to thank our employees for their resilience during a pivotal time, and I thank you, our shareholders, for your continued trust in Whirlpool Corporation.

Sincerely,

Marc Bitzer
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer