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Investing.com -- Shares of Newell Brands (NASDAQ: NWL ) plunged 27% following the release of the company's fourth-quarter earnings and its guidance for the first quarter and full fiscal year of 2025, which fell short of Wall Street's expectations.

Newell Brands, the Atlanta-based consumer goods conglomerate, reported fourth-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $0.16, which was $0.02 higher than analysts had estimated. However, the company's revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter missed the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. More notably, the company's guidance for the first quarter of 2025 projects an EPS range of ($0.09) to ($0.06), starkly contrasting with the consensus estimate of $0.02. For the full year 2025, Newell Brands anticipates EPS to be between $0.70 and $0.76, versus the consensus of $0.75.

Despite the company's efforts to transform its operational structure and the reported year-over-year improvements in operating and gross margins, Newell Brands' preliminary outlook for 2025 indicates expected net sales to decline in the range of 4% to 2%, with core sales ranging from a 2% decline to a 1% increase. This guidance reflects the challenges faced by the company amid an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop and the ongoing transformation of its structural economics.

President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Peterson emphasized the company's progress in 2024, driven by the disciplined implementation of its new corporate strategy and operating model. He highlighted the sales performance improvement and gross and operating margin enhancements, despite the uncertain macroeconomic environment. CFO Mark Erceg also noted the successful refinancing of $1.25 billion of debt and the strong support the offering received, which he attributed to the improvements in Newell's performance and balance sheet since the adoption of the corporate strategy six quarters ago.

Looking ahead, Newell Brands expects core sales growth to inflect positively during the latter half of 2025, with the work done to create operational scale and efficiency across its plant and distribution system becoming more apparent. The company's ongoing organizational realignment and cost-saving initiatives are expected to contribute to the achievement of its financial goals.

The stock's significant drop reflects investor concerns over the company's ability to meet its financial targets and navigate the challenging economic landscape. As Newell Brands continues its strategic transformation, the market will be closely monitoring its performance in the coming quarters.

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