Whirlpool’s Dividend Collapse Is a Warning for These 3 High-Yield Stocks

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR | WHR Price Prediction) shows how fast a reliable payout can disappear. The appliance maker paid $1.75 per share per quarter through early 2025, then cut it to $0.90 and suspended its common dividend in the first quarter of 2026 to prioritize deleveraging. The shares have fallen 61.19% over the past year. Red flags appeared early. In 2025, operating cash flow of $481 million barely exceeded $389 million in capital spending, leaving almost nothing for the $299 million dividend. A high yield matters only if the company can keep paying it.

Here is the test: a dividend becomes unsustainable when it costs more than the company earns, when free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capital spending) can’t cover it, or when rising debt is filling the gap. All three stocks below are ordinary corporations, so earnings per share and free cash flow are the right measures. (We listed seven warning signs that a big yield is about to get slashed in our dividend trap guide here: Dividend Traps.)

Clorox: A Dividend Aristocrat Paying Out More Than It Earns

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) recently raised its quarterly payout from $1.24 to $1.25 per share, or $5 per year. At $86.39, that is a yield of about 5.8%. The shares are down 23.02% over the past year, so part of that yield comes from the falling price rather than from dividend growth.

Trailing dividends of $4.97 per share compare with trailing EPS of $4.81, a payout ratio of about 103%. Fiscal 2026 operating cash flow fell 37.61% to $612 million. After $207 million in capex, free cash flow was about $405 million, well short of the roughly $601 million the trailing dividend costs across the share count. Total liabilities rose 48.49% to $7.542 billion after the GOJO acquisition, against shareholders’ equity of just $252 million.

Cash flow took a one-time $476 million hit from the termination payment from the Glad joint venture. Fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS guidance of $5.70 to $6.00 would put the payout at about 88% at the low end. For the dividend to look safe, Clorox needs gross margin back near its roughly 42% target and free cash flow that covers the dividend without new borrowing. Our earlier look at whether Clorox’s earnings can keep up with its dividend covers the debate in more detail.

General Mills: A 127-Year Streak Running on Thinner Cash

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) pays $0.61 a quarter, or $2.44 a year, for a yield of about 7.1% at $34.36. The company points to 127 consecutive years of uninterrupted dividends. Much of the yield, though, comes from a 23.33% drop in the stock over the past year.

Trailing GAAP EPS stands at -$1.64 after $1.75 billion in goodwill and intangible impairments, most of them tied to North America Pet. Fiscal 2026 free cash flow fell 29.07% to $1.6263 billion. In the first quarter of fiscal 2027, operating cash flow of $297.8 million minus $90.5 million of capex left about $207.3 million, against $330.5 million in dividends paid. Shareholders’ equity fell 21.63%.

Adjusted EPS guidance of $3.00 to $3.20 puts the payout at about 81% at the low end, and management is targeting at least $750 million in savings. Still, management is guiding adjusted operating profit down 13% to 8% in constant currency. Organic sales need to steady before this payout looks comfortable. We noted the fine print behind General Mills’ dividend earlier this year.

Ford: Strong Cash Guidance Resting on a Shaky GAAP Base

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) pays a regular dividend of $0.15 a quarter, about 5.2% at $11.59. The shares are down only 1.67% over the past year, so this yield owes less to a collapsing price than the other two.

The problems are elsewhere. Trailing GAAP EPS is -$1.88, and second-quarter results included $4.2 billion in pre-tax special-item charges. Debt-to-equity is 4.66 and interest coverage is 2.02, although both figures include Ford Credit’s lending book. Free cash flow was -$1.874 billion in the first quarter, and second-quarter free cash flow fell 50.48%. Model e is still expected to lose approximately $4.0 billion this year.

For the optimist: adjusted free cash flow guidance of $6.0 to $7.0 billion comfortably covers the regular dividend’s roughly $2.35 billion annual cost. That guidance excludes major Middle East escalation, a U.S. downturn, and new tariffs, the risks that would test the payout.

Check the Coverage Before You Chase the Yield

When a dividend is cut, the stock usually drops alongside it, so investors take two losses at once. Run every high yielder through the same checks: earnings coverage, free cash flow, debt, and the stock’s price trend. A big yield is never a reason to buy on its own. For more payouts showing similar stress, see our list of high-yield stocks where the payout math is flashing warning signs.

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