MILAN — MillerKnoll trimmed its fiscal year guidance amid a challenging macroeconomic climate and rising energy prices.
The Zeeland, Mich.-based firm — which operates Knoll, Herman Miller, online platform Design Within Reach and Holly Hunt, Copenhagen-based design firm Muuto and textile firm Maharam — said it expects revenues in the range of $3.88 billion to $4.03 billion for the year. That compares to a previous estimate of $3.93 billion to $4.13 billion.
The revision was released along with the company’s fiscal first-quarter earnings. In the three-month period ended Aug. 31, MillerKnoll saw sales fall 3.4 percent to $923.4 million. This was dragged down by net sales of its contract business, which dipped 6.4 percent to $156.8 million year-over-year, though forecasts were positive in the first months of the second quarter.
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“We are managing expenses and production levels carefully,” interim chief executive officer Jeff Stutz said during a conference call with analysts. “This is really an enterprise-wise effort to make smarter deliberate choices on where we spend…that includes a focus on all expense lines,” he said, explaining that the company is optimizing its manufacturing capacity.
MillerKnoll has also been busy optimizing its work force. In May, Holly Hunt president Marc Szafran and executive creative director Joannah Kornak left the business. And press reports said multiple managers and employees were also laid off. In the first quarter, MillerKnoll improved its cash flow from operations of $49.1 million, compared to $9.4 million in the prior year.
On a positive note, the company’s operating income received a roughly $10 million increase from tariff refunds. That helped push adjusted operating income up to $65.7 million from $60.1 million a year earlier.
MillerKnoll’s board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $18.75 cents per share.
The company remains in flux after the June 2 news that Andi Owen — who joined Herman Miller in 2018 and oversaw the $1.8 billion merger of Herman Miller and Knoll in 2021 — was stepping down as CEO.
Owen handed over the reins at a crucial moment in the group’s history.
MillerKnoll, which is listed on Nasdaq, saw its shares sink to a five-year low in November 2025, as the company endured a period marked by macroeconomic headwinds caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policy, inflation and rising shipping costs.
Looking ahead to the fiscal second quarter of 2027, the company expects $972 million to $1 billion in sales.
In the near term, market watchers will likely eye the performance of the firm’s international contract business closely. “We’ve been really working hard to try to bring more balance to the product mix that is sold through our international contract segment,” Stutz assured analysts, adding that the company is focused on expanding its product mix to take advantage of new opportunities. “As an individual product category, it’s high profit.”
