Covid-19 Bites Harley-Davidson

Q1’20 Harley-Davidson Retail Motorcycle Sales + Motorcycles and Related Products Segment Results

Let’s jump right to that impressive Q1’20 financial result:

• Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) posted earnings of $69.7 million compared with $127.9 million in the same period a year ago.
• The dividend was slashed to 2 cents a share from 38 cents.
• The motor company is in talks with major U.S. banks to secure $1.3 billion in liquidity.
• Harley’s U.S. retail sales were down 15.5% compared with the same period a year ago.
• International retail sales were down 20.7% compared with 2019.
• Harley’s U.S. heavyweight motorcycle market segment share was down 2.2 percentage points, to 48.9%.

Another quarter, another poor performance from Harley-Davidson, though the market seemed to buy into the promise that this time it will be able to turn things around.

Déjà vu…

Management promising to fix things again by “crafting strategy accelerants” to deliver improved sales and better returns.  However, it admitted that its efforts thus far haven’t worked and also said it was “refining” the plans it had already devised, but it wouldn’t reveal how it was going to achieve them until this summer. Granted the financial problems Harley-Davidson encountered this quarter aren’t necessarily all of its own making, though it hasn’t helped itself along the way.

It’s important to note that the Harley-Davidson trends in the U.S. have been weak for years despite the economy being strong for so long. That is a major problem and the acting Harley-Davidson CEO, Jochen Zeitz, remains vague on what the motorcycle company is going to do to change that dynamic.

The “ReWire” Board

The fact that management chose the term “ReWire”, emphasizing the electric future to describe their refining plans reads like a satirical article in The Onion.  It’s as if CEO, Jochen Zeitz said, “I’ve heard some concerns going around, and I want to impress upon each and every one of you that I’m taking every possible step to ensure that we tap into a market that has traditionally been neglected by motorcycle manufacturers, Harley-Davidson is announcing a new line of motorcycles designed specifically for men.”

The “ReWire” plan consists of five main points:

• Enhance core strengths and better balance expansion into new spaces.
• Prioritize markets that matter.
• Reset product launches and product line-up for simplicity and maximum impact.
• Build the Parts & Accessories and General Merchandise businesses to their full potential.
• Adjust and align the organisational structure, cost structure and operating model to reduce complexity and drive efficiency, to set Harley-Davidson up for stability and success.

The ReWire playbook abandons some of the previously ratified “More Roads” plan, but there is so much “CEO Speak” — “designed to address top priority opportunities, drive consistent execution and reset the company’s operating model in order to reduce complexity, sharpen focus and increase the speed of decision making.” — in that investor call its difficult to know what exactly remains “committed” to or what will stop.

Little is certain these days, but there’s one sure thing: in a situation where 30+ million people were laid off or furloughed in the past 6-weeks, people are definitely thinking about their wallets.  And living with ever-present, crushing uncertainty and the knowledge that people all around us are dying isn’t the stimulus to rush out and purchase a new motorcycle.

Let us face facts.  It’s going to be a different world for a while. After all, temperature checks, touch-less payments, masks, wipes, take-out and distancing were not part of the Harley experience before the March closures.

If Harley-Davidson is about anything, it’s about bringing people together. Lots of them. And really, really close — with motorcycle rallies, music festivals, HOG events and all the cross country rides.  Looking at you Sturgis!

The whirlwind of 400,000+ motorcycle enthusiasts half-hearted adherence to CDC guidelines, while gathering all week in a number of local bars, and eating VEGAN-burgers could be viewed as a controlled experiment to determine the virus’s true incubation rate.

I have some gray in my hair and beard, something you will see in a majority of Harley enthusiasts.  I find the idea of a Harley specifically aimed at men deeply patronizing.

Photos courtesy of Harley-Davidson.

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Harley-Davidson Q3 2019 Financial Results

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) reported the third quarter 2019 financial results in a press release HERE.

Key indicators the motor company reported was revenue from motorcycle and related products fell 4.9% Y/Y to $1.07B in Q3.  Motorcycle shipments were down 5.8% to 45,387 and gross margin fell one point to 29.9% of sales.  The company stated it expects shipments of 38,500 to 43,500 motorcycles in Q4 and 212K to 217K for the full year.

In other interesting financial sound bites; Harley’s Q3 marketing spend was up over 30% with efforts on the LiveWire and LowRider S television spots running in major markets across the U.S.  International retail sales were up 2.7% driven by growth in both developed and emerging markets.  In addition, Harley-Davidson gained 2.2 percentage points of market share during the quarter within the Touring and Cruiser segments, which represents approximately 70% of the total 601cc plus industry.

In the attracting more people to riding and keeping riders riding space (i.e. the 2027 strategic imperative) — in Q3 the company gained deeper analysis and insights on why people engage, participate and disengage from riding.

Lets call it a “participation lifecycle!”

H-D Marketing and Brand Amplification

Harley-Davidson now has an acute focus on how to influence each customer at their buying decision points to build the total number of committed Harley-Davidson riders.  By 2027,  the company will expand to 4M total Harley-Davidson riders in the U.S., grow international business to 50% of annual HDMC revenue, launch 100 new high impact motorcycles and do so profitably and sustainably.  Lastly, Harley added Amplified Brand as a growth catalyst in the More Roads to Harley-Davidson’s growth plans.

For example Harley-Davidson refreshed their brand look at major events during Q3 including Sturgis, World Surf League and Spartan races and recently announced we will be the presenting sponsor at next summer’s hotly anticipated Hella Mega music experience tour featuring Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy.  The Hella Mega Tour being promoted by Harley-Davidson is the co-headlining tour of rock bands Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer. The tour was announced on September 10, 2019 and includes dates from March to August 2020.

Navigating Section 301 Tariff Process

You can’t have a finance report these days and not talk about TARIFFS!  The dizzying series of trade and tariff events over the last few months has pushed the trade war front and center into Harley-Davidson.  How to navigate the Section 301 Tariff process, prepare for any impact etc., is a challenge in of itself.  For the full year 2019, Harley-Davidson now expect impacts of recent EU and China tariffs to be approximately $105 million. This is a $5 million increase from prior expectations and is driven by an increase in Section 301 tariffs, which continue to shift with the breeze as part of global trade negotiations.

It appears that some developed nations will slip towards recession, and governments and companies keep hoping the signs of economic weakness in China would push all the parties to a “deal” table faster.  Harley-Davidson looks to continue mitigating the impact of tariff increases through tariff classification, tariff engineering, first sale, and other methods.  Some of which may have an impact on U.S. manufacturing jobs.

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Q3’19 Press Release:  HERE
Investor Slides:  HERE
Transcript of Q3’19 Financial Call:  HERE
More Roads Plan:  HERE
Hella Mega Tour:  HERE
Section 301 Tariffs:  HERE

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Photos courtesy of Harley-Davidson

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ERP Holds Harley-Davidson Q3 Earnings Hostage

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) was the watch word at Harley-Davidson’s Q3’12 earnings call earlier in the week.  So eloquent were the deflections it almost makes a person think they’re a SAP – for investing in SAP AG!

Harley-Davidson’s third-quarter earnings were income from continuing operations at $134.0 million on consolidated revenue of $1.25 billion, compared to income from continuing operations of $183.6 million, or $0.78 per share, on consolidated revenue of $1.40 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Through nine months, Harley-Davidson income from continuing operations increased 12.1 percent year-over-year to $553.3 million, or $2.40 per share, on consolidated revenue of $4.41 billion, compared to income from continuing operations of $493.4 million, or $2.09 per share, on consolidated revenue of $4.13 billion in the year-ago period.

“The third quarter marked a pivotal milestone in Harley-Davidson’s transformation. With the launch of the ERP production system at York, a major piece of our restructuring work is behind us. We are now focused on optimizing the system and look forward to the start of seasonal surge production early next year,” said Keith Wandell, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Like partners in a three-legged foot race, both the management and employees were hobbled by their connection to this so-called new ERP production system at the Company’s largest assembly plant.  How ironic.  A new production system being implemented to improve manufacturing performance becomes part of the problem that resulted in comments during the call like:

1. “Harley-Davidson’s annual new model launch was pushed to late August from late July.”
2. “New motorcycle sales were adversely affected by a limited availability of new motorcycles in July, August and early September.” 
3. And leaving no deflection rock unturned… “The economy remains fragile and there’s a lot of uncertainty for high-end products like a brand (Harley-Davidson) like ours.”
4. No mention in the call about the Milwaukee HQ IT jobs outsourced in July to India (Infosys) and if that had an impact on Q3?!
5. Nothing mention in the call whether what I feel has to be the lamest slogan (“Great Motorcycles”) on the 110th Anniversary models is creating sales issues.  It would be the first thing I’d take off the bike!

110th Anniversary Model with “Great Motorcycles” Slogan – Primary Cover

On a worldwide basis, dealers sold 61,053 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the third quarter of 2012 compared to 61,838 motorcycles sold in the year-ago period.  Dealers sold 40,402 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the U.S. compared to sales of 42,640 units in last year’s third quarter. In international markets, dealers sold 20,651 new Harley-Davidson motorcycles during the third quarter compared to sales of 19,198 units in the year-ago period.  During the quarter, retail unit sales increased 32.3 percent in the Latin America region, 9.8 percent in the Asia Pacific region and 1.8 percent in the EMEA region and decreased 4.7 percent in North America (U.S. and Canada) compared to last year’s third quarter.

Harley-Davidson Motorcycles and Related Products Segment Results Third-Quarter Results: Third-quarter operating income from motorcycles and related products was $144.8 million, a 19.9 percent decrease compared to operating income of $180.7 million in the year-ago period.

110th Anniversary Model with “Great Motorcycles” Slogan – Air Cleaner Cover

Revenue from motorcycles during the third quarter of 2012 of $774.0 million was down 16.1 percent compared to the year-ago period. The Company shipped 52,793 motorcycles to dealers and distributors worldwide during the quarter, down 14.5 percent and in line with prior guidance, compared to shipments of 61,745 motorcycles in the third quarter of 2011.

Revenue from motorcycle parts and accessories totaled $233.7 million during the quarter, down 0.8 percent, and revenue from general merchandise, which includes MotorClothes® apparel and accessories, was $75.6 million, up 9.1 percent compared to the year-ago period.

Gross margin was 34.7 percent in the third quarter of 2012, compared to 33.7 percent in the third quarter of 2011. Third-quarter operating margin from motorcycles and related products was 13.3 percent, compared to operating margin of 14.7 percent in last year’s third quarter.

For the full year 2012, Harley-Davidson continues to forecast a five-to seven-percent increase in motorcycle shipments compared to 2011.

My view is that they are not done transforming the company and it’s going to take more time to right the ship while getting the ERP humming to turn the management business vision into a reality.

Photo courtesy of SAP and H-D.

Note: In 2006 H-D selected SAP to help them manage and optimize their growth.  In June 2011, there was an article in Forbes referring to H-D involvement in SAP’s Community Network.  It’s unclear if the “new” ERP implementation is an updated rollout of a newer version of SAP or a major transition to new ERP vendor. 

Full Disclosure:  I have no investment in or hold any SAP AG or Harley-Davidson stock.

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Harley-Davidson Profitable As It Manages Down

H-D Advertising in India

In spite of continued high unemployment numbers, homebuilder confidence at a 15-month low and very tight credit,  Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) reported that its second-quarter 2010 net income rose to $71.16 million or $0.30 per share, from $19.75 million or $0.08 per share in the same quarter last year. The biggest money-maker was in the Financial Services Segment as it became profitable to lend money for motorcycle purchases once again.

Income from continuing operations were $139.3 million, or $0.59 per share, compared to income of $33.4 million and earnings per share of $0.14 from continuing operations in the year-ago quarter. In the second-quarter the financing arm returned to the black and posted a profit of $60.8 million, after posting a loss of $90.5 million during the same period a year ago.

Net revenue from motorcycles and related products were basically flat at $1.135 billion, compared to $1.136 billion in the year ago quarter.  The company expects to ship 53,000 to 58,000 motorcycles in the third quarter and reiterated its expectation to ship 201,000 to 212,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles to dealers and distributors worldwide in 2010, a reduction of five to ten percent from 2009.

Harley-Davidson now expects gross margin to be between 32.5% and 34.0% for the full year, versus the prior estimate of 32.0% to 33.5%. The Company continues to expect full-year capital expenditures of between $235 million and $255 million, including $95 million to $110 million to support restructuring activities.

At the press briefing Keith Wandell, President and CEO of H-D stated:

“Harley-Davidson is making steady progress at executing its strategy to deliver results through focus,” he continued with “We are seeing the benefits of our restructuring and continuous improvement activities reflected in our earnings performance.”

Clearly declining motorcycle sales are the biggest reason for Harley’s struggles and the company’s solid Q2 is not all that reassuring when you remove the “bank” profitability a.k.a. financial services.  New products launch on July 27th which holds some promise along with the international expansion into India.

Updated: July 20, 2010 — John Olin (H-D CFO)  stated during the conference call with investors today that many strapped Harley customers wound up selling their motorcycles during the recession. This has created a glut of used bikes on the market, causing the ratio of used-to-new bike sales to rise to two-to-one in 2009 from one-to-one in 2007.

Photo courtesy of H-D.

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The Losers

It was a Dark Sky Film made in 1970.

The film also appeared under the title Nam’s Angels.  The plot included a biker gang, the Devil’s Advocates who were recruited by the CIA to execute a daring rescue behind enemy lines in Cambodia. After customizing their Yamahas into combat-ready death machines, the gang roars into action on this unlikely suicide mission. Heavy casualties ensue. I kid you not.

I’m not sure if the movie did much if anything to propel Yamaha sales, but this week there are reports the Japanese motorcycle maker (Yamaha Motor) has plans to close seven factories globally with a loss of 1,000 jobs.  This is all in an effort to bounce back from a  Y216.1 billion ($2.7 billion) annual loss in 2009.  Yamaha is the world’s second biggest motorcycle manufacturer after Honda and this streamlining is in addition to a previously announced 10% reduction in the company’s global workforce of 17,000 which is underway.  This is Yamaha’s first loss in 26 years.

Specific plant closure include 5 of its 12 domestic factories by 2012, all in Shizuoka prefecture (central Japan) who now produce parts for motorcycles, marine products and buggies.  In addition, Yamaha will close a motorcycle factory in Italy and a marine products plant in Florida.

It looks like the only motorcycle manufacture beating down the 2009 slowing motorcycle trend was BMW Motorrad.  New products like the K1300GT, S1000 RR Superbike along with the opening of 8 new dealers in the past 5 months has them bullish on the future.

An interesting side bar on The Losers — it’s playing on a television in the background of a motel-room scene between Bruce Willis and Maria de Medeiros in Pulp Fiction. Clearly Quentin Tarantino is one of its fans.

Photo courtesy of Dark Sky.

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Reconsidering Happiness

Keith Urban

Whoa!  My two previous posts on the current state of the Harley-Davidson state was clearly like a sad country song in an old rundown coffee shop, yup one of those “bummer zones” so, we need a change of scenery.

Speaking of, have you been to Nashville?  If you haven’t been to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum you’re the worse for it.  Yeah, you may think you don’t care about boot-kickers, but you’re missing out on the history of America.  From slavery to the Dust Bowl to Elvis and the tragedy of the Williams family.  To go to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is to become a fan.  And to insure that it lives on, Vince Gill proposed a “All For The Hall” event where every artist cough up one night of revenue for the Hall.

Keith Urban is one who took him up on it and at the Sommet Center (the Staples Center of Nashville), he hosted some of country music’s finest as they raised money for the Hall.   Keith and his band played one my favorites, “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me“:

“I got no money in my pockets
I got a hole in my jeans
I had a job and I lost it
But it won’t get to me”

That’s the power of music.  It crowds out all the negative and replaces the bad thoughts with joy and inspiration.  And when you watch Keith Urban ride his Harley and hear him wail on his guitar, you’ll smile with a good feeling.  I don’t know about you, but after yesterday’s jaw-dropping news from H-D and the layoffs at Buell I needed some “sunshine blown up my skirt.”

Life.  It’s full of hopes and dreams.  And victories and losses.  What gets you through is your friends, family and the music.

Photo courtesy of Keith Urban.

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Harley Nurses A Flat Tire

My how things change.

A year ago with gas prices jacked to the $4.00 a gallon level scooter sales exploded.  Especially the 51 cc-to-155cc category as it was a break out year.  Dealers over ordered and now inventories are high.  2009 predictions seem to indicated the scooter party is over.

And speaking of party over… That “hissing sound” from UBS analyst, Robin M. Farley was the air deflating the motorcycle maker’s tires… i.e. earnings and stock price when she stated that Harley-Davidson’s spring sales have hit a wall.  Sales plummeted 35% in April/May compared to a year ago in this critical time of the year.  UBS isn’t without its own set of issues though.  Late last year Sr. Executive Raoul Weil, head of wealth management division was indicted for helping 20,000 clients conceal assets and avoid paying taxes so, one has to keep a wary eye on these so-called banking/finance veterans!

I’m sure the skillful press and public relation folks at H-D are digesting all of this and taking some of Robert S. McNamara (Secretary of Defense during Vietnam War) advice… “Never answer the question they ask; only answer the question you want to talk about.” It’s the language of sales and selling on message.  It feels like we’ve been mugged and drugged by marketing to the point we should question any manufactures trustworthiness.  But, that’s me.

Adding insult to injury, Harley along with other motorcycle manufactures can’t catch a break by the feds and were excluded from the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ bill.  The bill looks to favor owners of pickups and SUVs…just what Detroit needs to unload those overstuffed lots.  Of course the new vehicle needs to be more fuel-efficient (2 MPG) than their old guzzler to receive the $3500 credit/coupon and if you can find something that is 5 MPG higher you’ll get $4500 credit.

Now about McNamara…

Photo courtesy Wikispaces.  Full Disclosure: Editor has no investment in H-D stock.

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Harley-Davidson CFO Abruptly Resigns

I’m fascinated by the decline or some might say the “fallout” of the Harley-Davidson management team.

HD announced a couple days ago that effective immediately the CFO, Tom Bergmann was leaving the company.  Labeling the hasty departure with the all too familiar and politically correct words; “seeking other career opportunities” to describe his abrupt exit.   Mr. Bergmann had been CFO since 2006 and in January 2009 it was announced he would take on the additional responsibility as president of Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) after Sy Naqvi’s sudden departure.  So it’s rather odd that on the very first day that the new CEO, Keith Wendell comes to work Mr. Bergmann would choose it as the most optimal time to leave?! 

I smell “Mr. Clean”… and I even provided Keith a 10-step success plan, but forcing out the CFO in the first 8 hours on the job was not on the list!

On the day of his departure, Tom had just completed a transaction that would provide about $1B in funding capacity that the company could use for consumer lending in 2009. The new funding was important, since the firm finances roughly one of every two HD motorcycle purchases.  HDFS increased the size of an existing $500 million asset-backed commercial paper conduit facility to up to $1.2B, based on the level of outstanding receivables. The facility expires April 29, 2010.  In addition, Tom negotiated to have replaced a 364-day, $950M bank credit facility expiring July 31 with a new 364-day, $625M credit facility expiring April 29, 2010. Together, the two agreements provide additional available credit of up to approximately $375M over the term of the agreements for the lending activities of HDFS. 

Getting the funding covered is a monkey off their back and a fairly impressive accomplishment to tell the new boss on day #1, but to turn around and say “Hasta la vista, baby”…I’m outta here.  WTF?  Whether Mr. Bergmann was run off the road or decided no more black leather, but instead it’s time for touring suits with leg guards and time to gear-up for a sound different than a low rumble…we’ll never know.

The HD press release stated that Controller John Olin would serve as interim CFO at the company.  Bergmann also served as President of Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) and Treasurer Perry Glassgow would take over on an interim basis.  Lastly it named Mark Kornetzke, senior director of financial reporting, as the company’s chief accounting officer.

Photo courtesy Henny Ray Abrams/Reuters.

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All Aboard

The money train…. Wow … I think I just had a flashback. A warm sunny afternoon sitting on the hill overlooking the river. The birds singing in the trees, everything is so bright and colorful.  Oh wait weren’t we talking about Harley-Davidson?

Harley announced today its second round of job losses since the beginning of the year with a cut of up to 400 more positions, including up to 80 at its Milwaukee-area factories over the next two years.  The company reported a 37% drop in first-quarter profit as net income fell to $117.3 million, or 50 cents a share, from $187.6 million, or 79 cents, in the year-ago period. Revenue declined to $1.29 billion from $1.31 billion. Harley’s worldwide motorcycle sales declined 12%, and U.S. retail sales declined nearly 10% from last year’s first quarter.

And speaking of riding the money train…we learned this week that the new Harley CEO Keith Wandell, will receive a base salary of $975,000 plus other compensation according to SEC filings.  Wandell, replaces current CEO James Ziemer on May 1, and will also participate in the company’s short-term incentive plans with a total opportunity of 120% of his base salary and a maximum payout of 240% of his base salary with a cap of $3 million, his 2009 payout pro-rated based on salary earned for the year.  For comparison purposes, Forbes provides details on Ziemer’s comp plan is HERE.

Talk about a nice run up from his Johnson Controls base salary of $441,670 plus bonuses.  However that number is a bit misleading because compensation for the “chief” executive typically includes: salary and bonuses; other compensation, such as vested restricted stock grants, LTIP payouts and perks; and stock gains which is the value realized by exercising stock options.  In truth, Wandell’s total compensation as reported by Forbes was $9.7M.  Does anyone think he took a salary cut in moving to Harley?  Might I suggest it’s an over payment for services rendered?  Shall we just chant “U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!” and feel good that CEO pay is more than an order of magnitude above the average line worker?

I suspect that Wandell is pinching himself …paid nearly a $1M to lead the premier American based manufacturer of heavyweight motorcycles yet somehow landed the gig without a riding endorsement or owning a motorcycle…excuse me for a minute while I go puke.

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Risk Adverse Shoppers

Taking a page from the Hyundai play book, Seacoast Harley-Davidson and the Rochester H-D shop have implemented what is called the “Walkaway® Vehicle Return Program.”

Designed to provide a unique way to help consumers in a challenging economic environment (read: “Got laid off down at the factory…”) that offers up financial protection for the risk adverse consumer.  Promotion details on what constituted a ‘life-changing’ event were not readily available and required a discussion at the dealer.

This is unprecedented.  Not only in the financial offering/protection, but that a dealer would cut against the corporate “grain” and offer up a program independent of the factory.  It’s not clear if the program is endorsed by exec’s or if company management huddled up in a conference room and compared this program to Adam Lamberts crash and burn sitar version of ‘Ring of Fire‘ on American Idol last night.

Photo courtesy of Seacoast H-D.

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