Harley’s just given us a glimpse at their sales for the second quarter of 2023 – and while the figures are decent, they fell a tad short of Wall Street’s predictions.
Following the American bike brand’s Q1 results, Q2 has presented a -23% hit in the global bike sales area; the loss is purportedly due to “lower inventory and the production suspension,” the same factory freeze that lifted July 13th.
Here are the percentages of Harley bikes sold, per global region, for Q2 of 2023:
Overall, though, Harley’s gross margin for this season balanced out; we’re told by Harley’s press release (published to PRNewswire) that Q2’s operating profit popped up by +1.2%, thanks to “global pricing, lower EU tariffs, and reduced operating expenses.”
The above offset Harley’s operating income decline of $9 million in their Financial Services sector as the company bumped retail credit losses towards “normalized levels” – not a pretty sight, but a mandatory one nonetheless.
All told, Harley’s production suspension (and their push to bump credit losses) were managed by better operating income – and we’re told one of those factors was the popularity of HD Apparel collections, featuring cool stuff from the likes of Post Malone, Todd Snyder, On The Roam® (Jason Momoa), and NEIGHBORHOOD®.
“Reaffirming our guidance for the year, despite the production suspension, demonstrates the effectiveness of our Hardwire strategy and the power of our brand.” agrees Jochen Zeitz, Chairman, CEO, and President of Harley-Davidson in the recent press release.
“Now, with the suspension being behind us, we are fully focused on mitigating the impacts of the volume loss with the ambition to deliver on our Hardwire II goals in year two of our five-year strategy.”
Wondering what Harley’s anticipating for the coming year? Here are the specs, straight from the press release:
- ZHDMC revenue growth of 5 to 10%
- HDMC (Harley-Davidson Motorcycles)operating income margin of 11 to 12%
- HDFS (Harley-Davidson Financial Services) operating income to decline by 20 to 25%
- Capital investments of $190 million to $220 million
What do you think of Harley’s Q2 results?