Harley-Davidson swings to first loss since 1993

[TC Rides]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Harley-Davidson shares dropped almost 8% on Friday after the motorcycle icon said it swung to its first loss since 1993 and signaled still more speed bumps ahead.

Harley's /quotes/comstock/13*!hog/quotes/nls/hog (HOG 23.92, +0.33, +1.39%) stock closed down $1.99 at $23.59 but has almost doubled in the past year amid the company's restructuring efforts.

The Milwaukee manufacturer's fourth-quarter loss came in at $218.7 million, or 94 cents a share, vs. a profit of $77.8 million, or 34 cents, a year ago.

Continuing operations generated a loss of 63 cents in the latest period.

Total revenue fell 40% to $764.5 million from $1.28 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet Research were looking for a loss, on average, of 27 cents a share with sales of $753 million.

Tim Conder, analysts at Wells Fargo Securities, told clients in a note following the results that he doesn't expect the drop in the share price to last.

"We believe HOG shares will have an initial knee jerk downdraft, but should stabilize and improve from opening lows," he said. "We would continue to aggressively build positions on opening weakness."

Looking ahead to 2010, Harley-Davidson said it expects to ship 201,000 to 212,000 motorcycles worldwide, 5% to 10% below the 2009 level.

CEO Keith Wandell said he believes 2010 will "continue to be a challenging year" but greater profitability for the company will be restored going forward.

"We firmly believe the short-term pain that Harley-Davidson is going through as a result of our actions is worth the longer-term gain that we expect to see as a result," he said in a conference call following the release.

[chornbe]

HOLY CRAP REALLY?

[atadaskew]

How come no-one else is affected by the economy?

[chornbe]

How come no-one else is affected by the economy?

Good question. If only there was a way to read about this...

[falconati]

I read somewhere that Harley Davidson is the only motorcycle manufacturer to lose money in 2009.  It must be the fact that the downturn in the economy has had an impact on bandanna sales.

[wvrider]

perhaps....I think it is that bikes are all they make (no watercraft or cars to fill the blanks) and they had a BIG writeoff for Buell closure let alone sales being down albeit less than virtually all other motorcycle manufacturers. Plus they build in the USA which means certain labor costs are different good times or bad from foreign builders.

Phil

[st ryder]

The thing is, you have to be a real man to ride a Harely. Since the economy has devastated industries most likley to employ real men, is it any wonder the world's most manly bike suffers a sales dip? (Dale Franks eat your heart out )

OTOH, BMW's sales dip is the industry's least drastic.  

[Connierider]

Triumph gained market share for the year. No one else did. What's HDs next move ask for a tariff like in '85?

[chornbe]

It's a different world. That won't fly now. Flag waving was something all the cool kids did in the 80s. And it's unnecessary.

[wvrider]

Triumph gained market share for the year. No one else did. What's HDs next move ask for a tariff like in '85?

yeah so now Triumph has what 1 1/2 % of the market instead of 1% (not knocking the product but it is still small stuff like Ducati and some of the boutique brands). Honda is doing 40% less unit sales in 09 compared to 08, Harley did 25.8% less. Honda will need to negotiate a tariff BREAK and still may not be able to give em away.

Phil

[atadaskew]

 Honda is doing 40% less unit sales in 09 compared to 08, Harley did 25.8% less.

Actually Honda is doing 48% less in North America according to their published figures.

[Connierider]

yeah so now Triumph has what 1 1/2 % of the market instead of 1% (not knocking the product but it is still small stuff like Ducati and some of the boutique brands). Honda is doing 40% less unit sales in 09 compared to 08, Harley did 25.8% less. Honda will need to negotiate a tariff BREAK and still may not be able to give em away.

Phil

Give them away? What are you talking about? Why should there be any tariff anyway. HD has already got bailout money. How much help do they need?