Maytag Shares Tumble After Earnings Warning

Maytag Corp. said its fourth-quarter earnings will fall well short of Wall Street estimates because of disappointing sales. The announcement came a day after rival Whirlpool Corp. issued an earnings warning and said it would slash its payroll. Maytag said its fourth-quarter earnings will be about half the year-earlier 82 cents a share, compared with the 78-cent average estimate of analysts. Shares of Newton, Iowa-based Maytag, which fell Wednesday on Whirlpool’s announcement, fell an additional $2.50, or 8%, to close at $27.19 on the NYSE, well below a 52-week high of $48.94.