For the fourth quarter, Newell Brands’ financials came in largely in line with Wall Street guidance, as adjusted profit rose, but sales slipped slightly.
An analyst consensus estimate from Zacks Investment Research projected Newell earnings of 18 cents per adjusted diluted share and revenue of $1.89 billion.
Net sales were $1.9 billion compared with $1.95 billion in the year-previous period. Operating loss was $272 million, compared with operating income of $9 million in the year-ago period, while adjusted operating income was $165 million, compared with $139 million, the company noted.
Results by operating segment were, Newell maintained:
- The Home & Commercial Solutions posted net sales of $1.1 billion, down 5.3% from the year-prior quarter, reflecting a core sales decline and the impact of favorable foreign exchange rates. Operating loss was $200 million versus operating income of $28 million in the 2024 period, while adjusted operating income was $124 million versus $137 million.
- The Outdoor & Recreation segment posted net sales of $142 million, compared with $152 million in the year-prior quarter, reflecting a core sales decrease of 6.2% and the impact of favorable foreign exchange. Operating loss was $20 million versus an operating loss of $34 million in the year-past quarter, while adjusted operating loss was $12 million versus an adjusted operating loss of $28 million.
- The Learning & Development posted net sales of $629 million, compared with $628 million in the year-prior quarter, reflecting a 1.5% decrease in core sales and the impact of favorable foreign exchange. Operating income was $40 million versus $99 million in the 2024 period, while adjusted operating income was $99 million versus $101 million.
For the full year, Newell’s net loss was $285 million, or 68 cents per diluted share, compared to $216 million, or 52 cents per diluted share, in the year prior. Adjusted net income was $240 million, or 57 cents per diluted share, versus $286 million, or 68 cents per diluted share, in the year-earlier period.
Net sales were $7.2 billion compared with $7.58 billion in the year previous. Operating income was $39 million, down from $67 million in the prior year, while adjusted operating income was $606 million, down from $618 million, the company reported.
In announcing the fourth quarter results, Chris Peterson, Newell Brands president and CEO, said, “Despite a fluid and challenging macroeconomic environment, our team executed well, and we exited 2025 a stronger and more resilient company. Over the past several years, we have built and strengthened meaningful front- and back-end capabilities, and our priority now is converting those investments into sustained financial improvement. While we are not assuming an improvement in underlying category demand this year, we expect our strong innovation plans, higher levels of advertising and promotion, and an increase in points of distribution for the first time since the Jarden acquisition to enable us to outgrow our categories and gain market share.”
Mark Erceg, Newell Brands Chief Financial Officer, added, “Solid growth in fourth quarter normalized EBITDA marked a strong finish to a year characterized by multiple short-term challenges. For the full year and despite incurring $174 million and $114 million of gross cash and P&L tariff impacts, respectively, normalized operating margin expanded, including a 50-basis-point increase in advertising and promotion investment. Our 2026 outlook calls for net sales to be flat, which would represent a meaningful sequential improvement, normalized EPS of 54 cents to 60 cents, which includes an additional year-over-year tariff impact of seven cents and a higher effective tax rate, and operating cash flow of $350 million to $400 million, which, at the midpoint, would represent an increase of more than 40% versus 2025.”
