A vacuuming Roomba model robot is displayed at iRobot headquarters in Bedford, Massachusetts
Scott Eells | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The U.S.-China trade war is badly hurting iRobot, the company that makes the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner.
Shares of iRobot plummeted more than 13% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company’s top executive said tariffs from the conflict will weigh on the company’s numbers throughout 2019.
“Although we achieved our U.S. revenue target in the second quarter, we believe that the direct and indirect impacts of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war and the recently implemented 25% tariffs are likely to constrain U.S. market segment growth in the second half of the year below our expectations at the start of 2019,” CEO Colin Angle said in a statement.
The U.S. hiked tariffs on Chinese imports from 10% to 25% back in May after trade talks between the two countries broke down. China and the U.S. have since agreed to restart trade talks.
“Given our results for the year-to-date and the anticipated impact of higher tariffs on domestic segment growth, we believe it is prudent to update our 2019 full-year expectations,” Angle said.
IRobot slashed its full-year earnings guidance to a range of $2.40 per share to $3.15. Earlier this year, the company had forecast 2019 earnings to range between $3.15 per share and $3.40.
Shares of iRobot are up 7% for the year through Tuesday’s close, underperforming the Nasdaq Composite. The tech-heavy index has rallied nearly 24% in that time.
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