There's a reason why (NYSE: WHR) trades on less than 7 times the midpoint of management's full-year earnings per share guidance of $13 to $15 and with a dividend yield of 7.2%. Simply put, the market has little faith in management's guidance, and unfortunately, the latest first-quarter earnings report did little to dispel those fears. That said, there's a margin of safety baked into the valuation. Is it enough to justify buying the stock?

Testing an investment hypothesis with hard evidence of a trend in quarterly results makes sense. In that vein, here's a brief recap of the case for Whirlpool in 2024.

Investors understand that this will be a challenging year for Whirlpool. Management forecasts like-for-like sales to be flat at $16.9 billion, and ongoing earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) to also be flat at 6.8%. That's understandable in a year when relatively high interest rates are pressuring the housing market and discretionary spending on household appliances.

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Source Fool.com