Harley-Davidson, which makes bikes, has been, for the previous a number of years, attempting to vary itself into an organization with a long-term future. Or, not less than, not an organization that primarily sells V-twin-powered heavy bikes to an getting old inhabitants. In this regard, there was each good and unhealthy information on Thursday, when Harley introduced its fourth-quarter 2022 earnings outcomes.
The excellent news is that Harley took in $1.14 billion in income, which was greater than analysts have been anticipating, in accordance with The Wall Street Journal, which in flip in all probability had so much to do with Harley’s inventory value going up greater than 10 % at this time. Harley additionally mentioned it had internet revenue attributable to Harley of $42 million, a determine that the WSJ mentioned was greater than analysts anticipated as properly. (Who are Wall Street analysts and why do publications like The Wall Street Journal place a lot weight on their opinions? I concern you’ve requested one query too many, good friend.)
“As we conclude the second year of the Hardwire, Harley-Davidson delivered a strong finish to the year, with solid execution of our strategic pillars,” is what Harley CEO Jochen Zeitz mentioned in an announcement. (What is the Hardwire? It is one thing like, uh, “do better.”)
The unhealthy information is that LiveWire, Harley’s electrical bike division which it really spun into a brand new firm to go public by SPAC final yr, is doing unhealthy. Harley, for one, says it expects LiveWire to lose as much as $125 million this yr. Harley additionally mentioned that LiveWire offered simply 69 bikes within the fourth-quarter of 2022, a quantity that I initially thought was a typo. It says for 2023 it hopes to have as much as 2,000 electrical items.
For context, Harley mentioned it offered round 19,200 inner combustion bikes within the fourth quarter in North America, with complete items offered in 2022 down 12 % from 2021, to 117,100, and gross sales have been flat globally. Harley blamed a part of their troubles on final yr’s manufacturing shutdown, which is smart.
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Harley additionally mentioned that they’d be reporting LiveWire outcomes individually from Harley outcomes, though Harley has an fairness curiosity of 89.4 % in LiveWire. That will not less than make it simpler to see which elements of the corporate are working or not, however part of me wonders if Harley is admittedly wanting ahead to reporting that LiveWire is promoting dozens of electrical bikes every quarter. Just dozens, I say.
Source: jalopnik.com