Harley-Davidson has been struggling for a long time in terms of revenue, most likely due to the pandemic. Anyway, the financial report for the second quarter is out, and it looks good. Harley-Davidson has ramped up the pace and is ready to sell some fantastic motorcycles. Here’s a look at their Q2 performance.
Q2 Results
The Q2 consolidated revenue was up 77% versus Q2 2020 driven by strong growth in the Motorcycles and Related Products segment. Bottom-line results reflect significant operating income improvement with strong results in both the Motorcycles and the Financial Services segments. There is also a 37% increase during the 6 months of the year 2020 and 2021. In the year 2020, the revenue was $2,163 million and in 2021 it was $2,955 million. 2020 was a tough year because, during the 6 months of 2020, a huge loss was occurred of about $23 million. The same goes for Q2 of 2020 $92 million in a loss.
Global Retails Results
Global retail motorcycle sales in the second quarter were up 24 per cent, driven by a strong Q2 North America retail performance. During the 6months EMEA has occurred 19% losses and also in the 2nd quarter, loss of about 7%. EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) Q2 retail sales declines were a result of the company’s decision not to continue selling Street and legacy Sportster motorcycles in Europe. Latin America retail sales were impacted by a reduction in dealers and pricing actions across the portfolio, which were executed as part of the Rewire strategy.
Motorcycle Related Products
Revenue from the Motorcycles and Related Products segment was up significantly during the 2nd quarter primarily driven by a 100% increase in wholesale shipments as the company lapped last year’s COVID-19 related shutdown. Parts and Accessories’ second-quarter revenue was up 32% while General Merchandise was up 47% over Q2 2020. 2nd Quarter gross margin was up 14.5 percentage points to Q2 prior year while 2nd quarter operating margin finished up 32 percentage points over Q2 prior year due to volume gains behind lapping last year’s COVID-19 related shutdown, improved motorcycle unit mix, and lower restructuring expense.
Overall the financial situation is better than last year that is for sure, Harley-Davidson generated $644 million of cash from operating activities year-to-date in 2021, $34 million favourable to year-to-date 2020. Cash and cash equivalents were $1.7 billion at the end of the second quarter, down $2.1 billion to the end of Q2 2020 as the company has intentionally brought down cash balances as it believes the pandemic-related liquidity concerns have eased.