Stanley braces for tariffs
Announcing a seventh consecutive quarter of organic growth for its DeWalt brand, New Britain, Connecticut-based Stanley Black & Decker reported fourth quarter sales of $3.72 billion, down slightly from $3.74 billion in the same quarter last year.
Sales at the company’s tools & outdoor division were up 2 percent compared to the fourth quarter last year. Cause of the growth was volume, up 4 percent, which was partially offset by price and currency considerations. The tools & outdoor division accounted for 87 percent of total revenues in the fourth quarter.
“Against a mixed macroeconomic backdrop, we are encouraged by the growth and share gain momentum in DeWalt and within portions of engineered fastening,” said CEO Donald Allan, Jr.
Net income for the quarter was $194.9 million, compared to a loss of $304.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The CEO said the company is “preparing countermeasures designed to mitigate the impact from recently announced tariffs as their full effect becomes known.”
The CEO added: “We’ve successfully managed this before,” referring to tariffs introduced during the first Trump administration.
Also, the company said it is continuing its global cost reduction program, executing a series of initiatives that are expected to generate $2 billion of pre-tax run-rate cost savings and be completed by the end of 2025.
Chris Nelson, COO and president of tools & outdoor, said DeWalt produced solid, mid-single growth for the year, which the company believes is ahead of the market and representing share gain. He pointed to new product launches Powershift battery system, the Toughseries Construction Jack and the new Toughsystem modular storage system.
In the Q&A portion of the earnings call, the company said that the impact of additional tariffs on Chinese products could reach—at the high end—$90 million to $100 million annually.
The company, said Allen, has significantly reduced its reliance on China as a supplier to the U.S. market in recent years. About seven or eight years ago, about 40 percent of what the company sold in the U.S. came from China. That figure has been reduce to around 15 percent he said.
