v3.25.2
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2025
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies
Description of Business

Newell Brands Inc. is a leading global consumer goods company with a strong portfolio of well-known brands, including Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Graco, Coleman, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Yankee Candle, Paper Mate, FoodSaver, Dymo, EXPO, Elmer’s, Oster, NUK, Spontex and Campingaz. Newell Brands is focused on delighting consumers by lighting up everyday moments. The Company sells its products in over 150 countries around the world and has operations on the ground in over 40 of these countries, excluding third-party distributors. The Company has three operating segments: Home and Commercial Solutions, Learning and Development and Outdoor and Recreation.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Newell Brands Inc. (collectively with its subsidiaries, the “Company”) have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the United States (“U.S.”) Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include all adjustments (including normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair statement of the financial position and the results of operations of the Company. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements, and the footnotes thereto, included in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2024 has been derived from the audited financial statements as of that date, but it does not include all the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for a complete financial statement. Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.

Use of Estimates and Risks

Management’s application of U.S. GAAP in preparing the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements requires the pervasive use of estimates and assumptions. The Company continues to be impacted by inflationary pressures, soft global demand, major retailers’ focus on tight control over their inventory levels, fluctuating interest rates and indirect macroeconomic impacts from geopolitical conflicts as well as new tariffs imposed by the current U.S. presidential administration and other countries’ retaliatory actions in response to such tariffs. The Company continues to deploy a mitigation strategy designed to offset the impact of this tariff exposure through a number of actions, including pricing, productivity and in some cases relocation of manufacturing. These collective macroeconomic trends, the duration or severity of which are highly uncertain, are still changing the retail and consumer landscape and continue to negatively impact the Company’s operating results, cash flows and financial condition and are to some degree expected to persist into the remainder of the year. As consumers continue to face widespread increases in prices and fluctuating interest rates, their discretionary spending and purchase patterns may continue to be unfavorably impacted. The high level of uncertainty of these factors has resulted in estimates and assumptions that have the potential for more variability and are more subjective. In addition, some of the other inherent estimates and assumptions used in the Company’s forecasted results of operations and cash flows that form the basis of the determination of the fair value of the reporting units for goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment testing are outside the control of management, including interest rates, cost of capital, tax rates, tariffs, industry growth, credit ratings, foreign exchange rates and labor inflation. Although management has made its best estimates and assumptions based upon current information, actual results could materially differ given the uncertainty of these factors and may require future changes to such estimates and assumptions, including reserves, which may result in future expense or impairment charges.

Seasonal Variations

Sales of the Company’s products tend to be seasonal, with sales, operating income and operating cash flow in the first quarter generally lower than any other quarter during the year, driven principally by reduced volume and the mix of products sold in the first quarter. The seasonality of the Company’s sales volume combined with the accounting for fixed costs, such as depreciation, amortization, rent, personnel costs and interest expense, impacts the Company’s results on a quarterly basis. Also, the Company typically tends to generate the majority of its operating cash flow in the third and fourth quarters of the year due to seasonal variations in operating results, the timing of annual performance-based compensation payments, customer program payments, working capital requirements and credit terms provided to customers. In addition, uncertainty still remains over the volatility and direction of future consumer and customer demand patterns, as well as inflationary pressures inclusive of the impact of tariffs.
Accordingly, the Company’s results of operations and cash flows for the three and six months ended June 30, 2025 may not necessarily be indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2025.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Changes to U.S. GAAP are established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) in the form of accounting standards updates (“ASUs”) to the FASB’s Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”). The Company considers the applicability and impact of recently issued and proposed ASUs.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures.” The standard requires all entities subject to income taxes to disclose disaggregated information about a reporting entity’s effective tax rate reconciliation as well as information on income taxes paid. The new requirement is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024. The guidance will be applied on a prospective basis with the option to apply the standard retrospectively. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2023-09 to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU No. 2024-03, “Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures.” This ASU requires that each interim and annual reporting period, an entity disclose more information about the components of certain expense captions that is currently disclosed in the financial statements. This update is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026. Early adoption is permitted. Management is currently evaluating the effects this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements.

Sales of Accounts Receivable

The Company maintains a factoring agreement with a financial institution to sell certain customer receivables (the “Customer Receivables Purchase Agreement”) up to $700 million of eligible accounts receivable. During the six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, the Company factored receivables pursuant to the Customer Receivables Purchase Agreement. The following table sets forth proceeds received and amount collected from customers and remitted to the financial institution (in millions):
Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,
2025202420252024
Proceeds received$753 $772 $1,340 $1,447 
Collected from customers and remitted to financial institution620 710 1,160 1,330 

Outstanding receivables sold under the Customer Receivables Purchase Agreement at June 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024 were approximately $440 million and $270 million, respectively.

In addition, the Company, through a wholly-owned special purpose entity (“SPE”), has a three-year factoring agreement with a financial institution to sell certain customer receivables up to $225 million, between February and April of each year, and up to $275 million at all other times, of eligible accounts receivable without recourse on a revolving basis (the “Receivables Facility”). Under the Receivables Facility, certain of the Company’s subsidiaries continuously sell their accounts receivables, originated in the U.S., to the SPE, which then sells the receivables to the financial institution. The SPE is a variable interest entity for which the Company is considered to be the primary beneficiary. The SPE’s sole business consists of the purchase of receivables from certain subsidiaries of the Company and the subsequent transfer of such receivables to the financial institution. Although the SPE is included in the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements, it is a separate legal entity with separate creditors. The assets of the SPE are not available to pay creditors of the Company or its subsidiaries. The fair value of these servicing arrangements as well as the fees earned was immaterial. During the six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, the Company factored receivables pursuant to the Receivables Facility. The following table sets forth proceeds received and amount collected from customers and remitted to the financial institution (in millions):
Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,
2025202420252024
Proceeds received$295 $324 $543 $611 
Collected from customers and remitted to financial institution269 300 549 512 

Outstanding receivables sold under the Receivables Facility at June 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024 were approximately $145 million for each period.
Generally, for a receivable to be eligible under either program, the Company must have fulfilled its performance obligations and be contractually entitled to payment for such, based on a valid receivable that is not past due at the time of factoring the underlying receivable. The Company accounts for receivables sold to the financial institutions under both factoring agreements as a sale of financial assets and derecognizes the trade receivables from the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company classifies the proceeds received from the sales of accounts receivable to the financial institutions as an operating cash flow and collections of accounts receivables not yet remitted to the financial institutions as financing cash flow in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, and such collections are classified as restricted cash (included in prepaid expenses and other current assets) on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Restricted cash related to both programs was $23 million and $21 million at June 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. The Company records the discounts as other expense, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Supplier Finance Program Obligations

The Company has an arrangement with a third-party vendor which provides a service for the Company’s suppliers, at their sole discretion, to sell their receivables due from the Company to various financial institutions, who at their sole discretion, contract with the third-party vendor to participate in the supplier finance program (the “SFP”).

The Company and its suppliers agree on contractual terms for the goods and services procured, including prices, quantities and payment terms, regardless of whether the supplier elects to participate in the SFP. The suppliers sell goods or services, as applicable, to the Company and issue the associated invoices to the Company based on the agreed-upon contractual terms. Suppliers that participate in the SFP, at their sole discretion, determine which invoices, if any, they want to sell to the third-party vendor. The suppliers’ voluntary inclusion of invoices in the SFP does not change the Company’s existing contractual terms with its suppliers. The Company does not provide any guarantees or collateral under the SFP, nor does it have any economic interest in a supplier’s decision to participate in the SFP. Amounts due to suppliers participating in the SFP are included in accounts payable in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and amounts paid to suppliers participating in the SFP are classified as operating cash flows in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. Supplier payment terms for those participating in the SFP averaged approximately 124 days.

The following table sets forth the outstanding payment obligations due to the third-party vendor and activities related to the suppliers who participated in the SFP:

Balance at December 31, 2024
$14 
Invoices participating in the SFP39 
Invoices paid to the third-party vendor(39)
Balance at June 30, 2025
$14 

Fair Value Measurements

The Company’s financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, investment securities, accounts payable, derivative instruments and short and long-term debt. The carrying values for current financial assets and liabilities, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and short-term debt approximate fair value due to the short maturity of such instruments. For publicly traded investment securities, including mutual funds, fair value is determined on the basis of quoted market prices and, accordingly, such investments are classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. The fair value of such investments was not material at June 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024. The fair values of the Company’s long-term debt and derivative instruments are disclosed in Footnote 8 and Footnote 9, respectively. The Company’s nonfinancial assets, which are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis, include property, plant and equipment, goodwill, intangible assets and certain other assets. In addition, the Company adjusts its pension asset values to fair value on an annual basis.