Whirlpool Seeks Growth In Argentina With New Production Unit

To drive its growth in Argentina, Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) announced the conversion of an existing logistic center, located in La Tablada City – part of Buenos Aires Province, into an all-new manufacturing unit. The new Argentinean facility will create nearly 300 direct and indirect employment opportunities for the nation.

Powered by advanced technologies, the new production lines will manufacture cooking ranges and washing machines, thus enabling customers to leverage Whirlpool’s innovations. Some examples of the company’s innovations include differently sized appliances that can cater to small and big homes and also smart digital and electronic controls, to enhance customers’ convenience.

Also, management stated that the majority components for the new cooking ranges will be procured from within Argentina. In order to execute this, the company plans to undertake various programs with roughly 25 Argentinean suppliers.

These factors, along with the job creation potential, underscore Whirlpool’s commitment toward boosting Argentina’s development. Notably, revenues from Latin America contributed nearly 15.2% to Whirlpool’s total revenue in the third quarter of 2016 and rose 2% on a currency-neutral basis. Let’s see if developments like the aforementioned ones, can provide boost to the region’s top line.

Whirlpool has always been focused on undertaking initiatives to improve its performance. While some of its moves are directed toward augmenting sales, others concentrate on being cost-effective and environment-friendly at the same time.

Incidentally, earlier this week, the company announced that it has begun the construction of its latest wind project in Ohio, which will power its Marion manufacturing facility. The three-turbine project is expected to meet about 19% of the total power consumption of the Marion plant after its completion.

The project, which is expected to directly deliver wind energy by early 2017, will also help to eliminate more than 9,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The three turbines installed at the Marion project will be built and financed by One Energy, which is the company’s partner in two other wind projects in Ohio, as a part of its “Wind for Industry” projects.

These actions demonstrate Whirlpool’s commitment toward developing the local community and promoting the idea of lowering environmental degradation caused by industrial operations.

However, this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) stock has underperformed the Zacks categorized Consumer Discretionary sector significantly in the past six months. Evidently, shares of the company have slipped 2.1% in the last six months, as against the sector’s growth of 9.4%.

Stocks to Consider

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