Recreational
vehicle maker Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WGO)
reported better-than-expected earnings in the third quarter, even as revenues
missed the street view. The Forest City, Iowa-based firm reported Q3 earnings
of $1.14 per share, 13 cents above the average analysts’ estimate.
Revenues fell 5.9% to $528.9 million in Q3, hurt by lower sales in the Motorhome segment. Analysts were expecting total revenues of $564.03 million.
Revenues for the
Motorhome segment were $160.2 million, down 34.6% from the prior year, as
dealers continue to lower their inventories. Profitability in the segment was
hurt by a disruption in chassis supply by one of its key suppliers.
The company said that supply was improving during the early part of the current quarter, and it expects strong performance in the back half of this quarter and during fiscal 2020.
Revenues for the Towable segment were $346.8 million, up 10.8% from the prior year, driven particularly by the strength of the Grand Design RV brand.
CEO Michael Happe said, “Our North American RV retail share is approaching 10%, up from 3% just three years ago. The imbalance between industry wholesale shipments and retail sales continues to improve and will continue to do so in the back half of calendar 2019.”
Hurt by lackluster sales environment, Winnebago shares have traded mostly sideways in the trailing 52 weeks. The stock is down 4.5% during this period. Since the start of 2019, the stock has somewhat recovered, gaining 54%.
WGO ended its last trading session up 4.24% on Tuesday.