The Outdoor & Recreation segment of Newell Brands, Inc., which is home to brands Marmot, Ex Officio, Stearns, Bubba, Coleman, and Contigo, among others, reported a significantly lower loss in the third quarter as sales declines stabilized. Newell’s management predicted the segment would return to growth in 2026.

“The Outdoor and Recreation business has started to turn the corner, with third-quarter sales being essentially flat with last year,” said Chris Peterson, president and CEO, on an analyst call. “Simplification efforts, tighter inventory management, and portfolio pruning are all delivering tangible improvement. Perhaps most importantly, we have a strong innovation lineup in place for 2026 that we are very excited about. We believe this business is on track to return to top-line growth next year.”

He added that the item seeing the “fastest” growth within the segment is Coleman Pro Coolers. Peterson added, “It’s an interesting market because although the consumer is pulling back on general merchandise categories, we are seeing that if you come with a compelling innovation that represents a good value. I differentiate good value from low price.”

Net sales in the quarter for the segment reached $183 million, unchanged from year-ago levels. The core sales decline of 0.9 percent was significantly better than recent performances. Core sales were down 10.9 percent in the second quarter, 7.1 percent in the first quarter, 3.8 percent in 2024 fourth quarter, and 16.0 percent overall in the 2024 full year.

The Outdoor & Recreation segment showed an operating loss of $8 million, or negative 4.4 percent of sales, compared with $23 million, or negative 12.6 percent of sales, in the prior year period. The normalized operating loss shrank to $1 million, or negative 0.5 percent of sales, compared with $15 million, or negative 8.2 percent of sales, in the prior year period.

For the parent company, consolidated net sales were $1.9 billion, representing a 6.1 percent decline compared to the prior year period. Core sales declined 3.0 percent.

Newell reduced its loss in the period to $54 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with a loss of $86 million, or 21 cents, a year ago. Normalized net income was $69 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with $73 million, or 18 cents, in the prior year period.

Newell has reduced its outlook for the year, now expecting to incur $180 million in additional tariff costs in 2025, compared with the previous year, up from its prior estimate of $155 million. Full year adjusted earnings are now projected in the range of 56 cents to 60 cents a share, down from its previous forecast of 66 cents to 70 cents a share. Full-year net sales are now projected to decline 4.5 percent to 5 percent, after previously predicting sales to be down 2 percent to 3 percent.

“The pricing that we put in the market turned out to position us as being uncompetitive,” said Peterson on the call. “We price to recover the structural economics, and competitors basically didn’t follow us during this period.”

He added that Newell is also seeing a significant pullback from low-income consumers and younger shoppers.

“Low-income consumers remain under a lot of pressure and their purchase behavior in general merchandise is down significantly versus a year ago,” Peterson said. “Those [aged] 18 to 24 also are pulling back significantly on general merchandise purchases.”

Newell’s other brands include Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Graco, Yankee Candle, Paper Mate, FoodSaver, Dymo, Expo, Elmer’s, Oster, Nuk, Spontex, and Campingaz.

Image courtesy Newell Brands