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LiveWire GroupD
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2026-07-23
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Earnings documents stored for LVWR.

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Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-07-23

LiveWire Group, Inc. Reports 2026 Second Quarter Financial Results

Business Wire
MILWAUKEE, July 23, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LiveWire Group, Inc. ("LiveWire" or the "Company") (NYSE: LVWR) today reported second quarter 2026 results. "The second quarter marked an important step forward in the execution of our strategic growth plan. We successfully commenced production of our all-new S4 Honcho platform, expanding LiveWire’s portfolio into a highly accessible segment of the electric motorcycle market which we believe lays the foundation for future growth. At the same time, we closed the acquisition of Dust Motorcycles, which we expect will accelerate our expansion into the rapidly growing electric off-road category and strengthen our long-term product roadmap. Operationally, we delivered meaningful improvements in our financial performance, increasing consolidated revenue by 55% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to same period prior year and improving year-to-date free cash flow by 19% over 2025 through continued focus on commercial execution and disciplined cost management," said Karim Donnez, CEO, LiveWire. Second Quarter and Year-to-Date through June 30, 2026 Highlights and Financial Results Consolidated revenue increased 55% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to same period prior year driven by increased unit sales in both the Electric Motorcycle and STACYC segments. Reduced net cash used by operating activities year-to-date through June 30, 2026 by 18%, driving a 19% improvement in year-to-date free cash flow as compared to the same period 2025. Year-to-date through June 30, 2026 market share of 76% in the U.S. electric motorcycle 50+ kilowatt on-road EV segment1. Commenced production of the S4 Honcho™ with the first units expected to arrive at authorized LiveWire retail locations later this summer. Completed the acquisition of Dust Motorcycles, Inc. ("Dust") in May 2026 and continued to advance the platform toward production. Total Company Highlights The Company’s consolidated net loss was $18.2 million for the second quarter 2026 as compared to $18.8 million in the same period prior year driven by the segment results noted below and an increase of $1.8 million of non-operating income related to the change in fair value of the outstanding warrants as of June 30, 2026, primarily offset by an increase of $1.5 million in related party interest expense as compared to prior year. Adjusted EBITDA was $15.1 million for the second qua…Read full document

MILWAUKEE, July 23, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LiveWire Group, Inc. ("LiveWire" or the "Company") (NYSE: LVWR) today reported second quarter 2026 results. "The second quarter marked an important step forward in the execution of our strategic growth plan. We successfully commenced production of our all-new S4 Honcho platform, expanding LiveWire’s portfolio into a highly accessible segment of the electric motorcycle market which we believe lays the foundation for future growth. At the same time, we closed the acquisition of Dust Motorcycles, which we expect will accelerate our expansion into the rapidly growing electric off-road category and strengthen our long-term product roadmap. Operationally, we delivered meaningful improvements in our financial performance, increasing consolidated revenue by 55% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to same period prior year and improving year-to-date free cash flow by 19% over 2025 through continued focus on commercial execution and disciplined cost management," said Karim Donnez, CEO, LiveWire. Second Quarter and Year-to-Date through June 30, 2026 Highlights and Financial Results Consolidated revenue increased 55% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to same period prior year driven by increased unit sales in both the Electric Motorcycle and STACYC segments. Reduced net cash used by operating activities year-to-date through June 30, 2026 by 18%, driving a 19% improvement in year-to-date free cash flow as compared to the same period 2025. Year-to-date through June 30, 2026 market share of 76% in the U.S. electric motorcycle 50+ kilowatt on-road EV segment1. Commenced production of the S4 Honcho™ with the first units expected to arrive at authorized LiveWire retail locations later this summer. Completed the acquisition of Dust Motorcycles, Inc. ("Dust") in May 2026 and continued to advance the platform toward production. Total Company Highlights The Company’s consolidated net loss was $18.2 million for the second quarter 2026 as compared to $18.8 million in the same period prior year driven by the segment results noted below and an increase of $1.8 million of non-operating income related to the change in fair value of the outstanding warrants as of June 30, 2026, primarily offset by an increase of $1.5 million in related party interest expense as compared to prior year. Adjusted EBITDA was $15.1 million for the second quarter 2026 as compared to $15.7 million in the same period prior year driven by the segment results noted below and excluding expenses related to the Company’s At-The-Market program and acquisition costs related to Dust in the current year. LiveWire Group, Inc. is comprised of two business segments: STACYC – focused on the sale of electric balance bikes for kids, electric bikes, and related products Electric Motorcycles – focused on the sale of electric motorcycles and related products STACYC STACYC unit sales increased by 7% compared to the prior year same quarter, resulting in an increase to revenue of $0.5 million. Operating loss improved by $0.3 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to 2025 primarily due to increased gross profit resulting from recoveries on previously paid tariffs of $0.5 million. Electric Motorcycles Electric Motorcycle unit sales increased by 386% compared to the prior year same quarter, resulting in an increase to revenue of $2.8 million. Operating loss was flat compared to the prior year, reflecting a decrease in selling, administrative and engineering expense of $1.0 million, offset by an increase in cost of goods sold primarily from net realizable value adjustments on the purchase of S2 inventory during the quarter as compared to the same quarter in the prior year. Financial guidance For the full year 2026, the Company reiterates its full-year guidance. Webcast Harley-Davidson, Inc. management will discuss the results of its LiveWire reportable segment during an audio webcast from 8-9 a.m. CT where discussion will be limited to its LiveWire reportable segment’s financial results and outlook updates. Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire reportable segment results as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP may differ from LiveWire Group, Inc. results on a standalone basis. About LiveWire LiveWire has a dedicated focus on the electric motorcycle sector. LiveWire’s majority shareholder is Harley-Davidson, Inc. LiveWire comes from the lineage of Harley-Davidson and is capitalizing on a decade of its learnings in the EV sector. With a dedicated focus on EV, LiveWire plans to develop the technology of the future and to invest in the capabilities needed to lead the transformation of motorcycling. www.livewire.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The Company intends that certain matters discussed in this press release are "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements concerning possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events or results of operations, and any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "is on track," "may," "might," "objective," "ongoing," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "remain committed," "should," "target," "will" and "would," or similar words or phrases, or the negatives of those words or phrases, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties and assumptions described in prior public filings titled "Risk Factors." These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks, including, without limitation, the following: our history of losses and expectation to incur significant expenses and continuing losses for the foreseeable future; Harley-Davidson, Inc. ("H-D") making decisions for its overall benefit that could negatively impact our overall business; our relationship with H-D and its impact on our other business relationships; our ability to obtain funding for our operations, access to capital markets and manage costs; our future capital requirements and sources and uses of cash; our limited operating history, the Company’s business, expansion plans and opportunities, including its expansion into the off-road electric motorcycle market, its ability to successfully integrate the Dust Motorcycles acquisition, and its ability to develop, commercialize and grow Dust-branded and related off-road electric motorcycle products and product lines, as well as the Company’s ability to scale its operations and manage its future growth effectively; potential delays in the design, manufacture, financing, regulatory approval, launch and delivery of our electric vehicles; our financial and business performance, including financial projections and business metrics and any underlying assumptions thereunder; changes in our strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects and plans, including our ability to effectively execute the Company’s relocation and streamlined headcount plan within expected costs and time and our ability to realize the expected savings on an ongoing annual basis; our ability to manage and predict the impact of global trade issues and changes in and uncertainties with respect to trade and export regulations, trade policies and sanctions, tariffs, international trade disputes, particularly those relating to China and Taiwan, may have on the Company's ability to sell products domestically and internationally, and the cost of raw materials and components, including tariffs recently imposed or that may be imposed by the U.S. on foreign goods or other tariffs recently imposed or that may be imposed by foreign countries on U.S. goods; retail partners being unwilling to participate in our go-to-market business model or their inability to establish or maintain relationships with customers for our electric vehicles; our ability to attract and retain a large number of customers; challenges we face as a pioneer into the highly competitive and rapidly evolving electric vehicle industry; our operational and financial risks if we fail to effectively and appropriately separate the LiveWire business from the H-D business; our ability to leverage contract manufacturers, including H-D and Kwang Yang Motor Co., Ltd., a Taiwanese company ("KYMCO"), to contract manufacture our electric vehicles; building out our supply chain, including our dependency on our existing suppliers and our ability to source suppliers, in each case many of which are single-sourced or limited-source suppliers, for our critical components such as batteries and semiconductor chips; geopolitical events and related actions that may occur between mainland China and Taiwan; increased geopolitical volatility and conflicts, such as in the Middle East, our ability to rely on third party and public charging networks; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; our business, expansion plans and opportunities, including our ability to scale our operations and manage our future growth effectively; the effects on our future business of competition, the pace and depth of electric vehicle adoption generally and our ability to achieve planned competitive advantages with respect to our electric vehicles and products, including with respect to reliability, safety and efficiency; our business and H-D’s business overlapping and being perceived as competitors; our inability to maintain a strong relationship with H-D or to resolve favorably any disputes that may arise between us and H-D; our dependency on H-D for a number of services, including services relating to quality and safety testing. If those service arrangements terminate, it may require significant investment for us to build our own safety and testing facilities, or we may be required to obtain such services from another third-party at increased costs; any decision by us to electrify H-D products, or the products of any other company; our expectations regarding our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection and not infringe on the rights of others; potential harm caused by misappropriation of our data and compromises in cybersecurity; changes in laws, regulatory requirements, governmental incentives and fuel and energy prices; the impact of health epidemics on our business, the other risks we face and the actions we may take in response thereto; litigation, regulatory proceedings, complaints, product liability claims and/or adverse publicity; and the possibility that we may be adversely affected by other economic, business and/or competitive factors. Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified and some of which are beyond our control, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur, and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. Some of these risks and uncertainties may in the future be amplified by new risk factors and uncertainties that may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties. As a result of these factors, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this press release will prove to be accurate. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances, or otherwise. You should read this earnings release completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. LiveWire Group, Inc. Non-GAAP Financial Measures In addition to our results determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America ("GAAP"), we review financial measures that are not calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP ("non-GAAP financial measures"). We believe our non-GAAP financial measures are useful in evaluating our operating performance and liquidity. We use the following non-GAAP financial information, collectively, to measure and evaluate internally to establish forecasts, budgets and operational goals to manage and monitor our liquidity. We believe that non-GAAP financial information, when taken collectively, may be helpful to investors, because it focuses on underlying operating results and trends, provides consistency and comparability with past financial performance, and assists in comparisons with other companies, some of which use similar non-GAAP financial information to supplement their GAAP results. The non-GAAP financial information is presented for supplemental informational purposes only, should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from similarly titled non-GAAP measures used by other companies. A reconciliation of each historical non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure stated in accordance with GAAP is provided below. These non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies, have limitations as analytical tools, and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our operating results as reported in accordance with GAAP. Free Cash Flow We define free cash flow as net cash used by operating activities, excluding cash paid for costs related to the Company’s At-The-Market ("ATM") program which results in financing cash inflows, less capital expenditures. LiveWire Group, Inc. Adjusted EBITDA We define Adjusted EBITDA as LiveWire Group Inc. net loss excluding interest expense, related party, interest income (expense), net, change in fair value of warrant liabilities, income tax provision (benefit), depreciation and amortization, acquisition costs, ATM program expenses, and other items not considered indicative of ongoing operating performance. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260723076647/en/ Contacts Media Contact: Jenni Coats (414) 343-7902Financial Contact: Shawn Collins (414) 343-8002

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-07-23

LiveWire Group Inc (LVWR) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Revenue Growth Amidst ...

GuruFocus.com
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. North American Retail Sales: Up 3% year-over-year, with approximately 30,000 motorcycles sold. Global Retail Sales: Up 1% year-over-year, totaling approximately 42,500 motorcycles. HDMC Revenue: Increased by 6% to $1.1 billion. Motorcycle Revenue: $848 million. P&A Revenue: $177 million, down from $187 million in the prior year. Apparel and Licensing Revenue: $62 million, up from $61 million in the prior year. HDMC Gross Profit Margin: 27.5%, down from 28.6% in the prior year. HDMC Operating Income: $72 million, with an operating income margin of 6.6%. Adjusted EBITDA: $115 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 10.4%. HDFS Revenue: $117 million, a decrease of 55% year-over-year. HDFS Operating Income: $22 million, with an operating income margin of 18.5%. LiveWire Revenue: Increased 52% year-over-year. Net Cash Used in Operating Activities: $59 million, compared to $509 million in the prior year. Share Buybacks: 1.3 million shares repurchased worth $30 million in Q2. Cash and Equivalents: $1.9 billion at the end of Q2. Consolidated Operating Income: $76 million, compared to $112 million in Q2 of 2025. Earnings Per Share (EPS): $0.75, compared to $0.88 in Q2 of 2025. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with LVWR. Is LVWR fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: July 23, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) reported a 52% increase in consolidated revenue over the prior year, driven by increased unit sales of electric motorcycles and STACYC brand electric balance bikes. The company successfully began production of the S4 Honcho, with the first units expected to arrive at authorized retail locations later this summer. LiveWire completed the acquisition of Dust Motorcycles, which is expected to accelerate expansion into the growing off-road category and strengthen long-term product strategy. The company achieved an 18% improvement in net cash used by operating activities through June 30, 2026, compared to the prior year. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) is on track to meet its strategic goals, including the launch of new models and cost-saving initiatives, which are expected to enhance future performance. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) continues to operate at a loss, with an…Read full document

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. North American Retail Sales: Up 3% year-over-year, with approximately 30,000 motorcycles sold. Global Retail Sales: Up 1% year-over-year, totaling approximately 42,500 motorcycles. HDMC Revenue: Increased by 6% to $1.1 billion. Motorcycle Revenue: $848 million. P&A Revenue: $177 million, down from $187 million in the prior year. Apparel and Licensing Revenue: $62 million, up from $61 million in the prior year. HDMC Gross Profit Margin: 27.5%, down from 28.6% in the prior year. HDMC Operating Income: $72 million, with an operating income margin of 6.6%. Adjusted EBITDA: $115 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 10.4%. HDFS Revenue: $117 million, a decrease of 55% year-over-year. HDFS Operating Income: $22 million, with an operating income margin of 18.5%. LiveWire Revenue: Increased 52% year-over-year. Net Cash Used in Operating Activities: $59 million, compared to $509 million in the prior year. Share Buybacks: 1.3 million shares repurchased worth $30 million in Q2. Cash and Equivalents: $1.9 billion at the end of Q2. Consolidated Operating Income: $76 million, compared to $112 million in Q2 of 2025. Earnings Per Share (EPS): $0.75, compared to $0.88 in Q2 of 2025. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with LVWR. Is LVWR fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: July 23, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) reported a 52% increase in consolidated revenue over the prior year, driven by increased unit sales of electric motorcycles and STACYC brand electric balance bikes. The company successfully began production of the S4 Honcho, with the first units expected to arrive at authorized retail locations later this summer. LiveWire completed the acquisition of Dust Motorcycles, which is expected to accelerate expansion into the growing off-road category and strengthen long-term product strategy. The company achieved an 18% improvement in net cash used by operating activities through June 30, 2026, compared to the prior year. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) is on track to meet its strategic goals, including the launch of new models and cost-saving initiatives, which are expected to enhance future performance. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) continues to operate at a loss, with an expected operating loss in the range of $70 million to $80 million for the year. The company faces challenges in the European market, with a decline in retail sales and market share, indicating a need for strategic adjustments. Tariff uncertainties remain a concern, impacting financial results and creating an unpredictable operating environment. Domestic supplier challenges have affected margins in 2026, highlighting supply chain reliability issues. Despite revenue growth, LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) is still working towards achieving a more balanced portfolio and effective inventory management to improve dealer profitability. Q: Does guidance for HDMC include the $20 million IEPA refund? Also, can you confirm the launch timeline for the Sportster and Sprint models in 2027? A: The guidance does include the $20 million IEPA refund. As for the Sportster and Sprint, we expect to ship Sprint by the end of this year and Sportster in 2027. While we haven't set specific volume expectations, we are targeting mid-single-digit retail growth, with potential upside based on dealer and rider enthusiasm. Q: Can you elaborate on inventory levels and any strategies to improve response time and forecasting with dealers? A: We've successfully restored a more appropriate supply-demand framework, and current inventory levels are aligned with retail demand. We are actively working with our Dealer Advisory Council to improve mix and ensure the right bikes are in the right places. We don't foresee significant increases in dealer inventory in the coming quarters. Q: Are there any changes in the tariff guidance, and how do you view the impact of tariffs on your financials? A: The tariff guidance remains unchanged from the previous quarter, with expected costs between $75 million to $90 million. We have included $20 million in tariff recoveries in our updated guidance, but we do not anticipate further recoveries for the rest of the year. Q: How do you view the retail environment in North America, and what are the drivers of growth? A: The retail environment is strong, with Q2 sales up 3% and Q1 up double digits. Growth is driven by portfolio adjustments, including the successful launches of Super Glide and Deadwood models, which are accessible and iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The Nightster model also continues to perform well. Q: Can you provide more details on the $150 million cost savings target for 2027 under the Back to Bricks strategy? A: We are on track or slightly ahead of our cost savings target. Initiatives include headcount reductions, focusing on key strategic areas, and improving cost of goods. Our leadership team is dedicated to achieving these savings, and we'll provide more details as we approach 2027. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-07-17

LiveWire Group, Inc. To Report Second Quarter 2026 Results on July 23, 2026

Business Wire

MILWAUKEE, July 17, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LiveWire Group, Inc. (NYSE: LVWR) will release its second quarter financial results before market hours on Thursday, July 23, 2026. LiveWire Group, Inc. will not hold a separate earnings call. Harley-Davidson, Inc. management will discuss the results of its LiveWire reportable segment during an audio webcast from 8-9 a.m. CT where discussion will be limited to its LiveWire reportable segment’s financial results and outlook updates. Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire reportable segment results as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP may differ from LiveWire Group, Inc. results on a standalone basis. Company Background LiveWire Group, Inc. is majority owned by Harley-Davidson, Inc. and has a dedicated focus on the electric motorcycle sector. www.livewire.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260717171210/en/ Contacts Media Contact: Jenni Coats (414) 343-7902Financial Contact: Shawn Collins (414) 343-8002

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-06

LiveWire Group, Inc. Q1 2026 Earnings Call Summary

Moby
Performance in Q1 was driven by a 14% retail increase in North America, which management attributes to aggressive inventory rightsizing and targeted incentives on legacy models. The 'Back to the Bricks' strategy marks a pivot from a heavy focus on premium touring and electric models toward a more balanced, rider-centric portfolio designed to improve entry-level accessibility. Management identifies a loss of brand relevancy as a primary driver of recent volume declines, specifically citing the 2022 discontinuation of the iconic Sportster model as a strategic gap. The company is adopting an 'enterprise profitability model' that prioritizes dealer health, under the rationale that dealer profitability reduces the need for OEM discounting and attracts network capital. Operational execution is shifting toward a capital-efficient approach, leveraging existing platforms and powertrains to launch new motorcycles rather than developing entirely new architectures. Parts and Accessories (P&A) are being repositioned as a core growth driver, with plans to reinstate 30% of previously eliminated SKUs to capture high-margin customization revenue. Market dynamics in Europe and Asia Pacific remain subdued due to economic pressures, though management noted early momentum for 2026 models arriving late in the quarter. Management expects to achieve $350 million plus in EBITDA by 2027, anchored by $150 million in fixed cost reductions and the full-year impact of new model launches. The return of the Sportster in 2027 and the launch of the lightweight Sprint in late 2026 are expected to be primary drivers for mid-single-digit retail unit growth. Guidance assumes a one-to-one relationship between retail and wholesale units for 2026 as global dealer inventory has reached what management considers a healthy, balanced level. The financial framework targets a structural step-change in margins, aiming for gross margins approaching 30% and operating expenses below 20% of sales over the medium term. HDFS is transitioning to a capital-light model, expecting to sell approximately 2/3 of future loan originations while retaining high-value servicing and insurance revenue streams. A $15 million restructuring charge was recorded in Q1 related to headcount reductions and the elimination of certain roles to align with the new cost-saving targets. Tariff headwinds are expected to be $75 million to $…Read full document

Performance in Q1 was driven by a 14% retail increase in North America, which management attributes to aggressive inventory rightsizing and targeted incentives on legacy models. The 'Back to the Bricks' strategy marks a pivot from a heavy focus on premium touring and electric models toward a more balanced, rider-centric portfolio designed to improve entry-level accessibility. Management identifies a loss of brand relevancy as a primary driver of recent volume declines, specifically citing the 2022 discontinuation of the iconic Sportster model as a strategic gap. The company is adopting an 'enterprise profitability model' that prioritizes dealer health, under the rationale that dealer profitability reduces the need for OEM discounting and attracts network capital. Operational execution is shifting toward a capital-efficient approach, leveraging existing platforms and powertrains to launch new motorcycles rather than developing entirely new architectures. Parts and Accessories (P&A) are being repositioned as a core growth driver, with plans to reinstate 30% of previously eliminated SKUs to capture high-margin customization revenue. Market dynamics in Europe and Asia Pacific remain subdued due to economic pressures, though management noted early momentum for 2026 models arriving late in the quarter. Management expects to achieve $350 million plus in EBITDA by 2027, anchored by $150 million in fixed cost reductions and the full-year impact of new model launches. The return of the Sportster in 2027 and the launch of the lightweight Sprint in late 2026 are expected to be primary drivers for mid-single-digit retail unit growth. Guidance assumes a one-to-one relationship between retail and wholesale units for 2026 as global dealer inventory has reached what management considers a healthy, balanced level. The financial framework targets a structural step-change in margins, aiming for gross margins approaching 30% and operating expenses below 20% of sales over the medium term. HDFS is transitioning to a capital-light model, expecting to sell approximately 2/3 of future loan originations while retaining high-value servicing and insurance revenue streams. A $15 million restructuring charge was recorded in Q1 related to headcount reductions and the elimination of certain roles to align with the new cost-saving targets. Tariff headwinds are expected to be $75 million to $90 million for the full year, which is an improvement from the prior guidance range of $75 million to $105 million. HDFS revenue declined 54% year-over-year, a structural result of the transition to a capital-light model and the sale of a significant portion of the retail loan book. Supply management costs were higher than expected in Q1 due to a 'unique supplier situation' that impacted HDMC gross margins. Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management argues that the 'Back to the Bricks' strategy addresses demographics by reintroducing entry-level models like the Sportster and Sprint. Artie Starrs noted that the Sportster historically sold 35,000 to 40,000 units annually and remains the #1 request from the global dealer network. Jonathan Root expects tariff costs to decrease consecutively each quarter through 2026 as the company works through older inventory. The company is pursuing mitigation and recoveries but noted that 2027 should be 'arguably more attractive' under current regulatory structures. Management stated they have reached a cost structure for the new Sportster that is profitable at the expected MSRP. The strategic value lies in the 'enterprise model,' where entry-level bikes drive high-margin P&A attachment, service revenue, and future trade-ins. Artie Starrs clarified that Harley-Davidson has no current intentions to provide additional direct funding to LiveWire beyond the capital commitment made in late 2025. The focus for LiveWire remains on the imminent launch of the S4 Honcho and improving cash flow through product innovation. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here.

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-05

LiveWire (LVWR) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Motley Fool
Image source: The Motley Fool. May 5, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. ET Chief Executive Officer — Arty Scars Chief Financial Officer — Jonathan Root Arty Scars: Thank you, Shawn, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for our Q1 2026 financial results as well as an introduction to our new strategic plan, which we are calling Back to the Bricks. I will begin with an overview of our Q1 performance. Jonathan will then provide additional financial commentary before we turn to our strategy. Before I get into it, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge our deeply committed and passionate LiveWire Group, Inc. employees who work tirelessly to bring LiveWire Group, Inc. alive across the world. Thank you, Team LW. Starting with retail sales, we are pleased with our performance this quarter. North America delivered a 14% increase versus the prior year, contributing to global retail sales growth of 8%. In what remains a challenging consumer environment, these results reflect the impact of the actions we have taken to drive demand and improve execution. As noted on the Q4 earnings call, dealer health and inventory levels remain a key focus for the company. During the quarter, we reduced global inventory by 22% year over year as we continued to prioritize dealer inventory sell-through and aligning wholesale shipments with retail demand. We will share more detail on this in our strategy discussion. Strengthening dealer relationships has also remained a priority. We recognize the critical role our dealer network plays in the LiveWire Group, Inc. ecosystem and we are encouraged by the renewed sense of partnership and momentum across the network. This will be an important driver as we move forward into our next chapter. During the quarter, we also reopened our Juneau Avenue headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, affectionately referred to by our LiveWire Group, Inc. community as the bricks, with our employees at headquarters returning to the office for the first time since 2020. Finally, we have been encouraged by the early reception to our new marketing platform, Ride. I will speak more about the brand platform and the value we believe it will bring as part of our strategy presentation. With that, I will turn it over to Jonathan. Jonathan Root: Thank you, Arty, and good morning to all. I plan to start on page 4 of the presentation where I will briefly summariz…Read full document

Image source: The Motley Fool. May 5, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. ET Chief Executive Officer — Arty Scars Chief Financial Officer — Jonathan Root Arty Scars: Thank you, Shawn, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for our Q1 2026 financial results as well as an introduction to our new strategic plan, which we are calling Back to the Bricks. I will begin with an overview of our Q1 performance. Jonathan will then provide additional financial commentary before we turn to our strategy. Before I get into it, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge our deeply committed and passionate LiveWire Group, Inc. employees who work tirelessly to bring LiveWire Group, Inc. alive across the world. Thank you, Team LW. Starting with retail sales, we are pleased with our performance this quarter. North America delivered a 14% increase versus the prior year, contributing to global retail sales growth of 8%. In what remains a challenging consumer environment, these results reflect the impact of the actions we have taken to drive demand and improve execution. As noted on the Q4 earnings call, dealer health and inventory levels remain a key focus for the company. During the quarter, we reduced global inventory by 22% year over year as we continued to prioritize dealer inventory sell-through and aligning wholesale shipments with retail demand. We will share more detail on this in our strategy discussion. Strengthening dealer relationships has also remained a priority. We recognize the critical role our dealer network plays in the LiveWire Group, Inc. ecosystem and we are encouraged by the renewed sense of partnership and momentum across the network. This will be an important driver as we move forward into our next chapter. During the quarter, we also reopened our Juneau Avenue headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, affectionately referred to by our LiveWire Group, Inc. community as the bricks, with our employees at headquarters returning to the office for the first time since 2020. Finally, we have been encouraged by the early reception to our new marketing platform, Ride. I will speak more about the brand platform and the value we believe it will bring as part of our strategy presentation. With that, I will turn it over to Jonathan. Jonathan Root: Thank you, Arty, and good morning to all. I plan to start on page 4 of the presentation where I will briefly summarize the financial results for the first quarter. Subsequently, I will go into further detail on each business segment. Let me start with our consolidated financial results for 2026. Consolidated revenue in the first quarter was down 12% driven primarily by LWFS revenue being down 54% as it moved into a new capital-light model after the closing of the LWFS transaction, where we sold a significant part of the retail loan book and agreed to a forward flow in which we expect to sell approximately two thirds of future originations. Consolidated operating income in the first quarter came in at $23 million compared to operating income of $160 million in 2025. This was driven by a significant year-over-year decline in operating income at both HDMC and LWFS as we expected. The operating loss at LiveWire was $18 million, which was in line with our expectations and $2 million favorable to a year ago. In Q1, earnings per share was $0.22, which compares to $1.07 in 2025. Now turning to page five and HDMC retail performance. In Q1, North American retail sales of new motorcycles were up 14% versus prior year, approximately 24,000 motorcycles sold. In Q1, retail sales of new motorcycles outside of North America were down 4% versus prior year, with approximately 10,000 motorcycles sold, resulting in Q1 global retail sales of new motorcycles being up 8% versus the prior year, with a total of approximately 34,000 motorcycles retailed. We are relatively pleased with the start to the year, particularly in the U.S. We remain mindful of the global consumer discretionary landscape, which remains uneven. We are aware that pricing continues to be on the top of customers' minds given the current global setup that includes inflationary pressures, interest rates that continue to run above recent historical lows, and global geopolitical uncertainty. In North America, Q1 retail sales were up 14%, where U.S. retail sales were up 16% and Canada retail sales were down 8%. Results were driven by continued strength in our touring and trike models, as consumers reacted well to our new 2026 motorcycle launch and targeted customer incentives. This translated into a significant market share gain with LiveWire Group, Inc. reaching 38% of the U.S. 601cc+ market, up two percentage points year over year. Dealer inventory in North America declined 21% year over year, reflecting a more balanced setup as we enter the main riding season. In EMEA, Q1 retail sales posted a modest decline of 3%. In the quarter, performance reflected a subdued economic environment in Europe, although supported with early model year 2026 product momentum across the continent, as evidenced by the quick sell-through of new units that began arriving later. The RevMax platform continued to outperform in Q1 the broader portfolio led by adventure touring, which showed strong growth year over year. In addition, from a market share standpoint, we moved from 2% to 4% of share in the European market in Q1. In Asia Pacific, Q1 retail sales declined by 9%. In the quarter, we experienced modest declines in the core portfolio, including Touring, Trike, and Softail, reflecting broad-based pressure across Japan, Australia, and China, partially offset by positive results in our noncore motorcycle portfolio, with strength in adventure touring. In Latin America, Q1 retail sales delivered another strong quarter with retail up 21%, where both Brazil, our largest Latin American market, and Mexico were up while other Latin American countries were down modestly year over year. Touring and trike were the standout categories in the market. Dealer inventory at the end of 2026 was down 22% versus the end of 2025. Specifically, North American dealer inventory was down 21% and dealer inventory outside of North America was down 23%. This has allowed LiveWire Group, Inc. dealers to start the upcoming 2026 riding season with a largely appropriate setup. In addition, the quality of dealer inventory is healthier today than one year ago as it is more current from a model year standpoint. At the end of Q1, North America dealer inventory was comprised of approximately two thirds of current model year 2026 motorcycles. In comparison, in the prior year period, a little less than one half of all dealer inventory was current model year. We expect this improvement in healthy dealer inventory to pay dividends in future periods and believe it sets LiveWire Group, Inc. and our dealers up for greater success. Before we get into revenue, let us conclude with some information on wholesale shipments. From a wholesale shipment perspective, in 2026, we delivered approximately 37,300 units compared to 38,600 units in 2025, which is down 3% year over year. As we are now beginning the prime riding season in North America, we have recently heard from dealers that they could benefit from more inventory with regard to particular places, models, and trim levels. This is a good sign, and we expect to ship more units on a year-over-year basis in Q2 and Q4 while running lower in Q3 in comparison to the prior year period. We expect this will get us to a more even shipment cadence across the quarters in comparison to what we have delivered in recent years. Now turning to page six and HDMC revenue performance. In Q1, HDMC revenue decreased by 2%, coming in at $1.1 billion. We point out that from a business line standpoint, motorcycles came in at $836 million, P&A plus apparel came in at $200 million, and licensing and other came in at $20 million. The drivers of overall revenue at HDMC included lower volume or shipments, and lower net pricing and incentive spend. These were partially offset by favorable foreign currency. Now turning to page seven and HDMC margin performance. In Q1, HDMC gross profit came in at 25.3%, which compares to 29.1% in the prior year. The year-over-year decrease was driven by the unfavorable impacts of increased tariff costs of $45 million in Q1, which will be covered in more detail in the next slide, net pricing and incentive spend due to effective sell-through of prior model year dealer inventory, product mix, lower volumes, and higher-than-expected supply management costs as we work through a unique supplier situation. These were partially offset by the positive effects of tariff recoveries settlement from prior years and favorable foreign exchange. In Q1, operating expenses totaled $248 million, which was $49 million higher compared to prior year. This falls into two broad buckets. The first piece is a restructuring expense of $15 million driven by costs incurred related to strategic changes, including the company's decision to eliminate certain roles resulting in one-time employee termination benefits and other recurring charges. The second piece consists of $34 million of additional cost in the quarter, specifically due to higher warranty spend due to select product recalls, select people costs, primarily related to executive team changes on a year-over-year basis, increased marketing spend as the marketing development fund matures, and limited other discrete expenses to operate the business. In Q1, HDMC had operating income of $19 million, which compares to operating income of $116 million in the prior year period. Turning to slide eight. In 2026, the overall global tariff regulatory environment continues to evolve. There are a number of factors at play in this space including the potential for increased tariff recoveries, evolution in the application of AIFTA Section 122, and updates to Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. In Q1, we saw the most significant year-over-year impact in tariffs we expect to experience this year. This is a result of the increased tariff levels which were initially put in place beginning in 2025. In 2026, the cost of new or increased tariffs was $45 million. As tariff policy changes, there are lags associated with the various tariff levels as these adjustments work their way through our parts inventory imported prior to the current Section 232 pronouncements. We continue to pursue mitigation actions where possible and pursue tariff recoveries when applicable. We note that recent U.S. administration tariff regulation announced in early April included an exemption on certain motorcycles, and for parts and accessories for the use in the manufacturing of motorcycles. We would note that LiveWire Group, Inc. is a business very centered in and around the United States. Three of our four manufacturing centers are U.S.-based and 100% of our U.S. core product is manufactured in the U.S. This change will serve in helping mitigate the impact to tariffs to LiveWire Group, Inc. and enable us to strengthen our commitment to U.S. manufacturing. At this point in time, we expect the cost of increased tariffs to be in a range of $75 million to $90 million for the full year 2026, which is favorable to what we guided to in our prior quarter. From a cadence perspective, our expected tariff amount will decrease consecutively as we work our way across the remaining quarters in 2026. Turning to LWFS on page nine. At LiveWire Group, Inc. Financial Services, Q1 revenue came in at $112 million, a decrease of 54% driven by lower interest income due to the decline in retail receivables related to the sale of loan assets as part of the new LWFS transaction. Other income within LWFS revenue was favorable year over year due primarily to new servicing fees, investment income, and new gains on third-party loan sales. LWFS operating income was $22 million, representing an operating income margin of 19.9%. On the expense side, interest expense and the provision for credit loss expense were both significantly lower, which was due to the decreased size of the retail loan portfolio and related debt on a year-over-year basis, and as expected, with the change in strategy associated with the LWFS transaction. The LWFS team continues to manage expenses prudently with operating expenses decreasing by $1 million versus prior year. Turning to page 10. In Q1, LWFS's annualized retail credit loss ratio on managed loans was 3.6%, which compares to 3.8% in the year-ago period. We are pleased with LWFS loan origination activities as total retail loan originations in Q1 were up 14%, coming in at $671 million. In Q1, total gross financing receivables were $2.5 billion at the end of Q1, where retail receivables were $1.3 billion and commercial receivables were $1.2 billion. Now turning to slide 11 for the LiveWire segment. For 2026, LiveWire revenue increased 87% over prior year driven by increases in electric motorcycle and STACYC brand electric balance bike units. Consolidated operating loss decreased by 11%, resulting from improved gross profit and lower selling, administrative, and engineering expenses. In turn, this drove an improvement of over 25% in net cash used by operating activities in 2026 compared to 2025. For 2026, LiveWire's focus is heavily geared around the imminent launch of its S4 Honcho products, in particular, continued network expansion, cost savings and improvements, and product innovation and development focused on products that will be profitable and positive drivers of cash flow. Now turning to slide 12. Wrapping up with consolidated LiveWire Group, Inc. financial results. We had net cash use of $228 million from operating activities in Q1, which compares to $142 million of operating cash in the prior year period. Operating cash flow was lower than the prior year due to reduced cash inflows at HDMC on lower wholesale shipment. Also at LWFS, the operating cash flow decreased due to reduced interest income and due to new originations of retail finance receivables under the forward flow arrangement that were classified as held for sale, which is classified as an operating activity under U.S. GAAP. As a result, the originations to be sold to our strategic partners or outflows reduced cash flow from operations as there were no comparative retail finance receivable originations classified as held for sale in the first quarter of the prior year. This was partially offset by the inflows from the proceeds from the sale of retail finance receivables classified as held for sale. This will remain a distinct year-over-year item as we move through 2026 as a result of the LWFS transaction which concluded throughout 2025. Total cash and cash equivalents ended 2026 at $1.8 billion compared to $1.9 billion a year ago. As part of our share buyback strategy, in 2025, we entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement to repurchase $200 million of shares of the company's common stock. As part of the ASR agreement, we received $160 million, or 80% of the notional worth of shares, or 6.3 million shares delivered to us before 12/31/2025, with the remainder expected to be delivered in early 2026. On 02/12/2026, our ASR was concluded, and we received an additional 3.1 million shares on 02/13/2026. These shares had a value of $64.7 million considering the share price during the ASR's performance period. Beyond the ASR, the company also repurchased another 3.5 million shares on a discretionary basis, $63.3 million in 2026. Therefore, in Q1, we repurchased a total of 6.6 million shares worth $128 million on a discretionary basis. We note that since our 2024 earnings announcement, where we also announced a plan to repurchase $1 billion worth of our shares through 2026, we have repurchased a total of 26.8 million shares. That is a total value of $726 million of LiveWire Group, Inc. shares purchased. We are pleased with the performance and have decided to conclude reporting on this program as we look forward to aligning our capital allocation approach with the updated strategy that Arty and I will walk through shortly. Share buybacks remain an important part of our capital allocation strategy, and you will hear more on this, including a refreshed and updated approach to capital return to shareholders. As we enter the main riding season, we remain pleased with our dealer inventory levels and leading market share position in the U.S., new model year 2026 motorcycle launch, including the new limited touring motorcycles, and all-new redesigned trike models. We are also pleased with the reception to a number of new, more affordable motorcycles which have a focus on critical price points to help stoke demand. While we are not changing our financial guidance, we would note that our optimism on the year has increased. This is due in large part to our retail results in North America, and we are also pleased with the early actioning of our cost reduction work. For the full year 2026, the company reaffirms its guidance and continues to expect at HDMC retail units of 130,000 to 135,000 and wholesale units of 130,000 to 135,000. We believe that global dealer inventory levels are healthy, and therefore, we expect retail and wholesale to have a largely one-to-one relationship in 2026. In line with my earlier comments, versus prior year, we expect shipments to be higher in Q2, relatively flat in Q3, and then up again in Q4. At the same time, we continue to expect production units at HDMC to be lower than wholesale units shipped in 2026, as we work to prudently manage overall company inventory levels. For 2026, we expect this will have a deleverage impact which will put pressure on operating leverage and operating margin, though we expect to come into alignment by next year. In addition, we still expect to face a greater overall cost for incremental tariffs in 2026 compared to 2025, which we covered in detail previously. As a reminder, in full year 2025, we incurred a cost of $67 million in new or increased tariffs, and in 2026, we forecast the cost of between $75 million to $90 million of new or increased tariffs based upon current tariff levels and versus the 2024 baseline. This is an update to the prior range we provided of $75 million to $105 million. At HDMC, we expect operating income of positive $10 million to a loss of $40 million. At LWFS, we expect operating income of $45 million to $60 million. As a reminder, the new business model at LWFS, given the LWFS transaction where LiveWire Group, Inc. Financial Services now employs a capital-light, de-risked business model, has a significantly changed financial earnings profile relative to before the transaction. For LiveWire, we are forecasting an operating loss in the range of $70 million to $80 million. And with that, I will turn it back to Arty to cover our strategic plan. Arty Scars: Now turning to our strategic plan for LiveWire Group, Inc. On behalf of our LiveWire Group, Inc. community, Jonathan and I are excited to introduce our Back to the Bricks plan, designed to reignite brand enthusiasm with riders around the world while driving profitable growth for our dealers and shareholders. It is grounded in the work we have done since October. We have spent significant time assessing the business, engaging deeply with dealers and riders, and most recently through a global roadshow where we connected directly with the majority of our dealer network and all of our global dealer advisory councils. The Back to the Bricks plan will restore LiveWire Group, Inc. and position the company for growth. First, we are intensely focused on leveraging LiveWire Group, Inc.'s competitive advantages, specifically brand, diversified revenue channels—and most notably P&A and financing products—and our dealer network. Second, we are leaning into a true win-win model with our dealer network. Our dealers are not only our retail channel, but the frontline builders of our rider community. They are the true source of strength and a competitive advantage. When our dealers win, the enterprise wins, and so do our shareholders. Third, we have already taken immediate actions to recapture share by better serving the large and community of riders where LiveWire Group, Inc. has a clear right to win. Fourth, we are doing this from a position of strength and plan to leverage our balance sheet, bolstered by cost and restructuring actions, to enable both investment in the business and returns to shareholders. We are executing against a clear path to strong and growing free cash flow and EBITDA margin, and lastly, we brought on some great leadership talent to support the business as we enter this new chapter for the company. Moving to slide three, there are really three things that define LiveWire Group, Inc. First is a 123-year-young brand that designs and manufactures the best motorcycles in the world, combining iconic design, precision engineering, and a look, sound, and feel that is unmistakably LiveWire Group, Inc. Second, through our best-in-class dealer network, we serve a global community across segments we have helped define over decades. Our riders show up in powerful ways, through HOG chapters, rallies, events, and by giving back to their local communities. And third, maybe most importantly, is the culture of riding. Since starting at the company, I have spent time with riders and dealers at events, rallies, and swap meets. What stands out is the emotional connection. Riders talk about their motorcycles, their rides, and their community in deeply personal ways. For them, riding is not just about getting somewhere; it is about the experience itself. The ride is the destination. Turning to slide four, in the midst of a bold restoration of the business to drive value for shareholders, what is clear is that our heritage remains a powerful advantage—not something to preserve, but something to build from. It starts with our portfolio. Taking a step back, over the last several years, we leaned heavily into touring and electric. Going forward, we are shifting to a more rider-centric portfolio—one that is more accessible, more customizable, and better aligned to the needs of the full spectrum of our riders. Touring will always remain our core. We are building clear pathways into the brand that support long-term touring growth, while also addressing other riding occasions and styles. Importantly, we can do this using our existing platforms—moving from too many of too few to a more balanced lineup. We are also adopting an enterprise profitability model, recognizing that our success is directly tied to the success of our dealers. When dealers win, we win. By aligning LiveWire Group, Inc. and dealer economics, we can create more value for riders, stronger profitability for dealers, and more dependable cash flow for shareholders. I will come back to this in more detail shortly. Another key pillar is parts and accessories. Customization is at the heart of LiveWire Group, Inc. It is how riders make each bike their own—what we often think of as freedom for the soul, or more personally, freedom for your soul. We are reestablishing parts and accessories as a core growth driver, one where we have a clear right to win and in alignment with dealers, as this is an important component of their profitability. We are also reinforcing MotorClothes and apparel, growing from the core of the brand. On promotions, as inventory is normalized, we are shifting to a more targeted and disciplined approach—one that supports volume while protecting margins. An expanded portfolio will play an important role here as well. From an investment standpoint, we continue to see upside in existing platforms, particularly within touring. But our near-term focus is on executing better with the platforms we already have, rather than introducing entirely new ones. By leveraging our existing platforms and powertrain to bring new motorcycles to market, we are operating with a more capital-efficient model. Finally, we have taken important steps to refocus our brand around our community, as reflected in the launch of the Ride marketing platform. Taken together, we believe these actions position us to revitalize the business by leaning into what has always made LiveWire Group, Inc. strong, and executing with greater clarity and discipline. As you can see on slide five, we have experienced a decline in retail volumes, and that has had a direct and meaningful impact on both company and dealer performance. At the core of this is a loss of relevancy with riders, most notably with the exit of iconic motorcycles like the Sportster, which limited accessibility and contributed to lower volumes. Additionally, we are excited to introduce Sprint, the perfect entry for many to the LiveWire Group, Inc. brand. At the same time, as volumes declined, our cost base remained largely fixed, putting pressure on margins and driving a greater reliance on broad-based promotions, particularly on higher-priced motorcycles. And importantly, lower throughput has had a direct impact on our dealers, reducing traffic, compressing profitability, and limiting the performance of key revenue streams like parts and accessories and service. All of this reinforces a critical point: restoring profitable volume is central to improving overall performance. That is exactly what our strategy is designed to address—making the brand more accessible through a combination of portfolio changes, more targeted pricing and promotions, and improved operational execution. Moving to slide six. While recent performance has been impacted, the underlying market opportunity remains significant. We see meaningful white space in existing markets—areas where LiveWire Group, Inc. has strong legacy equity and a clear right to win. Across new motorcycles, used motorcycles, parts and accessories, and apparel, there is share of wallet that we were capturing as recently as 2019 that we are no longer capturing today. That creates a very direct opportunity to regain market share and do so in segments where our brand is already strong. Importantly, this strategy is not about entering new categories where we lack the competitive advantage. It is about doubling down on the categories we know—where we have credibility, scale, and deep rider connection. We believe this positions us to regain lost share while driving meaningful volume growth over time. Now turning to our strengths on slide seven. The foundation of LiveWire Group, Inc. is its legacy—an unparalleled brand with unique American heritage, as recognized recently by USA Today as part of their 50 Iconic Brands That Shaped America series—underpinned by a best-in-class dealer experience, deeply committed riders, and craftsmanship that delivers something truly unique. When I first joined the company, those advantages were immediately clear, and as we have looked more closely at the data, they have only become more compelling. We are one of the most recognized and esteemed brands in the category, and in many ways, we help define it. Our dealer network is a true competitive advantage, consistently delivering a best-in-class customer experience and serving as the frontline of our brand. Our riders have an incredible affinity for LiveWire Group, Inc.—they do not just buy our products; they live our brand. It is a level of loyalty and engagement that is difficult to replicate. All of this is anchored in superior craftsmanship and quality that continues to resonate strongly with our riders. Taken together, these strengths provide a powerful foundation as we execute our plan and move the business forward. Now turning to our strategic roadmap on slide eight. Against the backdrop we have just discussed, we have developed a plan for the next several years that unfolds in three clear phases. First is the reset. This phase is already underway and focused on taking cost out, right-sizing dealer inventory, strengthening our dealer relationships, and rolling out the Ride marketing platform. We are making progress across all these areas and today we will provide an update on that momentum. Second is the growth phase. Beginning next year, you will see a more expanded and balanced portfolio designed around what riders want, while leveraging the full lifecycle of the motorcycle to unlock additional revenue streams. Parts and accessories will play a much larger role both in dealerships and as a core revenue driver. At the same time, we are refining our promotional approach to be more targeted, driving traffic and volume, while preserving profitability. Third is the acceleration of value creation. As the portfolio becomes more accessible and better aligned to the needs of our full spectrum of riders, we see opportunity to deepen ridership engagement. This includes greater participation in the used motorcycle ecosystem, as well as further driving adjacent areas like apparel and licensing. With the foundation established in the first two phases, we believe we are well positioned to drive more sustainable enterprise growth and wider economic enterprise benefits. Turning to slide nine. What are we doing right now? We have already begun putting this plan into action, and we are encouraged by the early momentum. As part of phase one, our actions on cost and inventory have been swift and effective. We have moved quickly to reduce headcount and take cost out of cost of goods sold, creating room to reinvest in key growth areas like parts and accessories. As we previously outlined, we expect to deliver at least $150 million in annual run-rate cost savings that will impact 2027 and beyond versus 2025 levels. At the same time, we have made meaningful progress on inventory. Global retail inventory is now at a much healthier level, down significantly—22% year over year. We still see opportunity to improve assortment and allocation at the dealer level. Importantly, these actions are starting to translate into results. We are seeing sales momentum return, with retail growth and market share gains, including an 8% increase in global retail sales in Q1 2026. Now turning to our dealers on slide 10. The LiveWire Group, Inc. dealer network is a clear competitive advantage, and our strategy is intentionally designed to support and strengthen their profitability. I firmly believe this company will go only as far as our dealers take us. That is why dealer profitability is a central pillar of our plan. Since joining, I have spent a significant amount of time with dealers, along with the broader leadership team, listening and learning directly from them on the ground. Our focus is on earning their trust and ensuring they are confident and excited about the path forward. We have already taken action through inventory right-sizing, better alignment on promotions, and structural improvements to dealer programs. We are not done. There are additional actions ahead that we expect to further strengthen dealer economics. Our objective is clear: to materially improve dealer profitability over time, supporting a stronger, more stable network, and enabling long-term growth. As shown on the slide, we are targeting a meaningful step up in dealer profitability over the next several years. Moving to slide 11, it is important to understand the role dealers play in the LiveWire Group, Inc. ecosystem. Dealer profitability is nonnegotiable and ultimately a win for shareholders. At the core, brick-and-mortar economics and frontline enthusiasm are directly linked. When our dealers are profitable, they can invest in their business, delivering a better rider experience at the point of interaction with our brand. This also reduces the need for discounting and OEM promotional support, helping preserve the premium positioning and long-term health of the brand. Dealers are not just our primary sales channel; they are a powerful marketing engine, building the brand in local communities at scale. When they are successful, we unlock the ability to invest more in rider growth through initiatives like Riding Academy, HOG engagement, and events that deepen connection to the brand. Importantly, healthy dealer profitability attracts capital, bringing more investment into the network and supporting long-term rider-centric growth. Moving to slide 12, I want to spend a moment on the lens through which we are now viewing growth and profitability. We have done significant work to better understand how we make money as one enterprise—LiveWire Group, Inc. and our dealers together. What is clear is that focusing solely on wholesale and retail motorcycle margins is an incomplete view. A motorcycle generates value over its entire lifecycle—across parts and accessories, service, finance and insurance, and ultimately the used market. LiveWire Group, Inc. and our dealers participate in that value at different points in time across multiple revenue streams. So going forward, we are managing the business against this broader enterprise economic model. By increasing new motorcycle volumes, we not only drive profit at the point of sale, we also expand the base of motorcycles in the market, which fuels downstream revenue across all of these channels. We believe this will create a more stable, diversified, and sustainable earnings profile over time. It also changes how we think about the portfolio. We intend to bring motorcycles to market in a way that supports the full enterprise profit model—not just the economics of an individual launch or motorcycle. We expect this to reduce pressure on any single product and lead to more balanced performance across cycles. The portfolio changes we are making—particularly around accessibility and customization—play directly into this model by supporting higher volumes and stronger lifecycle value. Over time, we plan for this to become a compounding growth engine. The return of Sportster and the introduction of new models like Sprint are great examples of how this approach will create value across the system. We are excited to announce that our iconic LiveWire Group, Inc. Sportster will be returning in 2027. This has been the most requested motorcycle from both our riders and our dealers, and we are bringing it back better than ever. Sportster is a perfect embodiment of Back to the Bricks, and it fits naturally within our enterprise economic model. For context, Sportster has historically been a middleweight, highly customizable motorcycle with an air-cooled powertrain and an accessible starting price point, making it an important entry to the LiveWire Group, Inc. brand. While it was discontinued in 2022, it has remained incredibly strong in the used market, often retaining value at or above original MSRP, which speaks to its enduring appeal. With its accessibility, we expect Sportster to drive higher volumes, and with its customization potential, we expect strong attachment to parts and accessories as riders personalize their motorcycles. Beyond the motorcycle itself, Sportster also creates opportunity across apparel, licensing, and the broader rider ecosystem. Importantly, it demonstrates how our strategy generates value across the full lifecycle, from the initial sale to entry into the used market. Taken together, Sportster is a critical part of our plan to restore volume, strengthen our portfolio, and drive long-term enterprise value. We look forward to sharing more specifics later this year. Additionally, we are excited to bring Sprint to market beginning in 2026. This lightweight, customizable, and accessible motorcycle provides a great entry to the brand for many riders. We are excited to be returning to a space that we have not been in since the 1960s, and we believe that the Sprint will provide a great starting point for riders, and zooming out to a broader view of the portfolio, we are taking deliberate steps to realign the portfolio—making it more rider-centric and better positioned to replicate the value-creation cycle we just discussed across more models. Over the past few years, pricing and portfolio decisions reduced accessibility for some riders, which contributed to lower volumes and ultimately pressure on profitability. We are addressing that directly. Going forward, you will see a more balanced lineup across price points, while still maintaining our premium positioning. We are also expanding the use of blank-canvas motorcycles, which we know is a key differentiator for LiveWire Group, Inc., giving riders more opportunity to personalize their motorcycles through genuine parts and accessories. These changes are informed by deep analysis of the used market, direct dealer engagement, and what we have learned from recent promotional activity. Importantly, we see clear gaps in the portfolio that we can address efficiently, without starting from scratch. We are leveraging our existing platforms and powertrain where we see significant room for growth, allowing us to expand the lineup without incremental capital investment. Taken together, this positions us to deliver what riders want, improve accessibility, and drive stronger volume and lifecycle value across the portfolio. Now turning to parts and accessories on slide 16. This is one of our most important revenue channels and a significant growth opportunity. We believe there is a potential to drive 20% to 30% sales growth over time. We also recognize that we have underinvested in this area in recent years. Customization is at the core of the LiveWire Group, Inc. experience, and a key driver of dealer profitability. No two LiveWire Group, Inc. motorcycles on the road are the same, and that is exactly how riders want it. We have laid out a clear roadmap to rebuild our leadership in parts and accessories, leveraging our dealer network and existing manufacturing and supply chain capabilities. That starts with expanding our assortment, including reinstating approximately 30% of SKUs that were previously eliminated. We are also refocusing on core categories where LiveWire Group, Inc. has historically been strong, like seats, exhaust, lighting, windshields, and handlebars, and pairing that with an increased emphasis on blank-canvas motorcycles that are designed for personalization. Importantly, we are integrating parts and accessories into the motorcycle launch process, ensuring availability at launch, supported by LWFS financing, and aligned dealer incentives. As we execute this, we expect stronger dealer performance, increased attachment rates, and ultimately both revenue growth and margin expansion over time. Turning to slide 17. We are also refining our approach to promotions. Historically, our promotional activity has been broader and less targeted. More recently, we used promotions to help reset elevated dealer inventory, which, while necessary, put pressure on profitability. Now with inventory at healthier levels, we are shifting to a more disciplined and targeted approach focused on driving traffic and conversion at a lower cost. An important enabler of this is our expanding portfolio, which allows for more value-based messaging across a broader range of products rather than relying on heavy discounting on a narrower mix. We are also strengthening our capabilities with recent hires who bring deep experience in performance marketing in automotive retail, and the launch of our marketing development fund in 2025 is a key step in better aligning scale with more effective localized dealer messaging. Together, these efforts are improving how we manage incentive spend, driving more predictable growth, while recognizing that many riders do not require heavy promotion to convert. The result is a more efficient model, which we believe will support volume recovery while protecting margins. Now turning to our marketing approach on slide 18. Last month, we launched our new brand platform, Ride, which really brings everything together. It is built on a simple but powerful insight—joy and swagger. At its core, Ride celebrates the experience of riding, and most importantly, our riders themselves. They and their motorcycles are the stars of the show. This reflects a broader shift in how we show up as a brand. We are moving toward more authentic, rider-focused storytelling that reinforces the community and culture at the heart of LiveWire Group, Inc. We are also reallocating our marketing investments, moving away from a heavier e-commerce spend and toward top-of-funnel brand-building efforts to drive awareness and engagement. You may have even seen us recently on Wheel of Fortune. At the same time, we are making better use of tools like the marketing development fund while upgrading our digital platforms and programs to support both global scale and local activation. Perhaps most importantly, the power of Ride is that it gives us a single unified voice while still allowing flexibility for riders and dealers around the world to bring the brand to life in their own way. It connects all aspects of LiveWire Group, Inc.—from product to community to marketing—under one cohesive platform. As you can see on the slide, it creates a clear and flexible framework for how we bring the brand to life across riders, dealers, and markets around the world. Over time, we expect this to drive stronger engagement, deeper relevance, and ultimately growth. Now I will hand it over to Jonathan to take you through the financial section. Jonathan, over to you. Thanks, Arty. Jonathan Root: Now turning to our financials on slide 21. All of the facets of the strategy we have just laid out support our financial growth trajectory over the next few years. We believe we have a clear path to achieving $350 million-plus EBITDA in 2027. The path to get there is clear and execution-driven, anchored by roughly $150 million in fixed cost reduction, better alignment between wholesale and retail volumes, the full impact of Sportster and Sprint, targeted expansion in high-margin parts and accessories, and more effective, disciplined promotions. Beyond 2027, the story does not stop. We expect continued strong growth driven by further cost absorption, a broader P&A and motorcycle portfolio, incremental product improvement, and smarter incentive execution. The bottom line is this is a structural step change in profitability with clear levers and meaningful upside ahead. Now on slide 22, we will take a closer look at how we get there. This bridge outlines the key initiatives that will drive EBITDA improvement. In the near term, the focus will be on cost reduction and operating leverage. We see these as the primary drivers of performance. With these actions already underway, we have a clear line of sight to achieving $350 million or more. Beyond 2027, drivers for continued growth will include, but not be limited to, improvements in motorcycle margins and volume, supported by growth in parts and accessories. Turning to our medium-term targets on slide 23. We expect to return to sustainable growth across key metrics. We expect to achieve mid-single-digit retail unit growth over the medium term. As Arty discussed, this return to growth will be driven by the significant actions we are taking across our business. Furthermore, we expect the momentum in retail units and other enabling actions to drive mid-single-digit growth in P&A and A&L. Combined with the ongoing inventory right-sizing, we expect this return to growth to have a significant impact on dealer health. From a margin standpoint, we expect to drive significant improvement in gross margins, approaching 30%, while operating expenses as a percentage of sales decrease to less than 20% from the 25% in 2025. Over the midterm, we expect CapEx to remain broadly in line with recent expenditure levels. In totality, we expect to deliver attractive top-line growth and drive towards a 10% to 12% EBITDA margin over the medium term. These targets reflect a more balanced and resilient business model underpinned by the Back to the Bricks strategy. I will now touch briefly on LWFS on slide 24. We believe that the business remains a highly strategic asset. Following the transaction, we have transitioned to a more capital-light model while maintaining LWFS's role in supporting motorcycle sales and dealer financing. We recently held a call to discuss the LWFS business in greater detail, but at a high level, we expect LWFS to see improved returns while reducing capital intensity. We expect to continue to strengthen LWFS's leading position in powersports and intend to expand our high-value finance and insurance product suite with optimized offers supporting motorcycle sales. In connection with our enhanced P&A offerings, LWFS plans to leverage additional financing to drive P&A sales. Lastly, we are also better training dealers to maintain the best-in-class penetration rate of LWFS. With all this in mind, we are targeting $125 million to $150 million in operating income for the business by 2029. Turning to capital allocation on slide 25. Our priorities remain consistent. We will reinvest in the business where we see opportunities to drive growth across the key initiatives of our strategy. We also remain committed to returning capital to our shareholders through share buybacks and dividends. Additionally, we remain open to opportunistic value-additive M&A. And with that, I will hand it back to Arty. Arty Scars: Thank you, Jonathan. To conclude, LiveWire Group, Inc. is built on a strong foundation—an iconic brand, a deeply loyal rider base, and a differentiated dealer network. We are excited about the path forward. Our dealers are energized, and we are seeing real enthusiasm from the rider community around Back to the Bricks. This strategy is intentionally grounded in our core strengths, and we are doubling down on what makes LiveWire Group, Inc. unique—especially our dealer network. Importantly, execution is already underway, and we are seeing early signs that our actions are delivering results. We are doing this from a position of strength, with a solid financial foundation to support both investment in the business and returns to shareholders. We have the right team in place, energized and equipped with the experience needed to deliver on this plan. We remain committed to working closely with our dealers every step of the way to create value for our riders, and ultimately for our shareholders. Thank you for your time this morning, and with that, we will take your questions. Operator: Thank you. And, ladies and gentlemen, if you do have questions for today, please press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. We will take our first question today from the line of Robin Farley from UBS. Your line is live. Robin Farley: Great, thank you. Two questions, if I may. First is just wondering what medium term is—2029 medium term—just to kind of put a finer point on thinking about the targets. And then the other question is a little bit tricky with tariffs. Some of the bridge to your 2027 EBITDA is from, I guess, lower tariffs lumped in with some other things. If you could just help us think about what you are expecting—what is factored in terms of tariff refunds into that—and your full-year '26 guide was unchanged, but tariffs seem a little better, so maybe there is an offset there. And then just, I do not know if the manufacturing for Sprint—if you are assuming tariffs on that, if that is going to be outside the U.S. and potentially tariffs. I know that is a lot of tariff pulled up into one, but just whatever you want to address. Thank you. Arty Scars: Robin, thank you. It is Arty. I appreciate the questions. I will take the first one, and then I will have Jonathan handle the tariff specifics. When we said medium term, we mean three to five years. Hopefully, that helps. And on the tariff piece, Jonathan? Jonathan Root: Yes, thank you, Robin. From a tariff standpoint, when you look at our 2026 estimate, we obviously have a midpoint of $83 million. Within the first quarter, we had $45 million in tariffs. Before you buy stock in LiveWire Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and LiveWire Group wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $490,864!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,216,789!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 963% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 201% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 5, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. LiveWire (LVWR) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-05

Harley-Davidson Stock Pops on Solid Earnings. It Has a Turnaround Plan.

Barrons.com

The motorcycle maker reported earnings per share of 22 cents from sales of $1.2 billion. Wall Street was looking for earnings per share of 22 cents from sales of $1 billion.

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-05

LiveWire Group, Inc. Reports 2026 First Quarter Financial Results

Business Wire
MILWAUKEE, May 05, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LiveWire Group, Inc. ("LiveWire" or the "Company") (NYSE: LVWR) today reported first quarter 2026 results. "We ended the first quarter of 2026 with an 86% increase in revenue over prior year, driving improved gross profit and operating loss, and a 25% improvement in free cash flow, compared to first quarter 2025. We also maintained our position as the number one retailer of U.S. electric on-road motorcycles1. With the upcoming launch of the S4 Honcho™, we are excited about the continued positive strides to be made in the business in the remainder of 2026," said Karim Donnez, CEO, LiveWire. First Quarter Highlights and Financial Results Electric Motorcycle unit sales increased 176% over first quarter 2025 with revenue increasing 236%. STACYC unit sales increased 101% over first quarter 2025 with revenue increasing 60%. Consolidated operating loss decreased by $3.0 million from same quarter 2025 driven by an improvement in gross profit of $1.6 million and decrease in consolidated selling, administrative and engineering expense of $1.4 million. Reduced net cash used by operating activities by 26% driving a 25% improvement in free cash flow as compared to 2025. Market share of 76% in the U.S. electric motorcycle 50+kilowatt on-road EV segment1. Targeted production of the S4 Honcho™ continues to be in Spring 2026. Total Company Highlights The Company’s consolidated net loss was $18.1 million for the first quarter 2026 as compared to $19.3 million in the same period prior year driven by the segment results noted below, offset by an increase of $1.4 million in related party interest expense, and a decrease of $0.5 million of non-operating income related to the change in fair value of the outstanding warrants as of March 31, 2026 as compared to prior year. LiveWire Group, Inc. is comprised of two business segments: STACYC – focused on the sale of electric balance bikes for kids, electric bikes, and related products Electric Motorcycles – focused on the sale of electric motorcycles and related products STACYC STACYC unit sales increased by 101% compared to the prior year same quarter resulting in an increase to revenue of $1.4 million. Operating loss decreased by $0.3 million in the first quarter of 2026 compared to 2025 primarily due to increased gross profit on increased sales. Electric Motorcycles Electric Motorcycle unit…Read full document

MILWAUKEE, May 05, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LiveWire Group, Inc. ("LiveWire" or the "Company") (NYSE: LVWR) today reported first quarter 2026 results. "We ended the first quarter of 2026 with an 86% increase in revenue over prior year, driving improved gross profit and operating loss, and a 25% improvement in free cash flow, compared to first quarter 2025. We also maintained our position as the number one retailer of U.S. electric on-road motorcycles1. With the upcoming launch of the S4 Honcho™, we are excited about the continued positive strides to be made in the business in the remainder of 2026," said Karim Donnez, CEO, LiveWire. First Quarter Highlights and Financial Results Electric Motorcycle unit sales increased 176% over first quarter 2025 with revenue increasing 236%. STACYC unit sales increased 101% over first quarter 2025 with revenue increasing 60%. Consolidated operating loss decreased by $3.0 million from same quarter 2025 driven by an improvement in gross profit of $1.6 million and decrease in consolidated selling, administrative and engineering expense of $1.4 million. Reduced net cash used by operating activities by 26% driving a 25% improvement in free cash flow as compared to 2025. Market share of 76% in the U.S. electric motorcycle 50+kilowatt on-road EV segment1. Targeted production of the S4 Honcho™ continues to be in Spring 2026. Total Company Highlights The Company’s consolidated net loss was $18.1 million for the first quarter 2026 as compared to $19.3 million in the same period prior year driven by the segment results noted below, offset by an increase of $1.4 million in related party interest expense, and a decrease of $0.5 million of non-operating income related to the change in fair value of the outstanding warrants as of March 31, 2026 as compared to prior year. LiveWire Group, Inc. is comprised of two business segments: STACYC – focused on the sale of electric balance bikes for kids, electric bikes, and related products Electric Motorcycles – focused on the sale of electric motorcycles and related products STACYC STACYC unit sales increased by 101% compared to the prior year same quarter resulting in an increase to revenue of $1.4 million. Operating loss decreased by $0.3 million in the first quarter of 2026 compared to 2025 primarily due to increased gross profit on increased sales. Electric Motorcycles Electric Motorcycle unit sales increased by 176% compared to the prior year same quarter resulting in an increase to revenue of $1.0 million. Operating loss decreased by $2.7 million primarily driven by a $1.6 million reduction in selling, administrative and engineering expense from continued focus on cost reduction, primarily people costs, compared to the same quarter in the prior year. Financial guidance For the full year 2026, the Company reiterates its full-year guidance. Webcast The public is invited to attend Harley-Davidson, Inc.’s audio webcast from 8-9:30 a.m. CT where discussion of LiveWire will be limited to financial results and updates to LiveWire’s outlook. The webcast login can be accessed at https://investor.livewire.com/news-events-1/events/default.aspx. The audio replay will be available by approximately 10:00 a.m. CT. About LiveWire LiveWire has a dedicated focus on the electric motorcycle sector. LiveWire’s majority shareholder is Harley-Davidson, Inc. LiveWire comes from the lineage of Harley-Davidson and is capitalizing on a decade of its learnings in the EV sector. With a dedicated focus on EV, LiveWire plans to develop the technology of the future and to invest in the capabilities needed to lead the transformation of motorcycling. www.livewire.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The Company intends that certain matters discussed in this press release are "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements concerning possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events or results of operations, and any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "is on track," "may," "might," "objective," "ongoing," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "remain committed," "should," "target," "will" and "would," or similar words or phrases, or the negatives of those words or phrases, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties and assumptions described in prior public filings titled "Risk Factors." These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks, including, without limitation, the following: our history of losses and expectation to incur significant expenses and continuing losses for the foreseeable future; Harley-Davidson, Inc. ("H-D") making decisions for its overall benefit that could negatively impact our overall business; our relationship with H-D and its impact on our other business relationships; our ability to obtain funding for our operations, access to capital markets and manage costs; our future capital requirements and sources and uses of cash; our limited operating history, the rollout of our business and the timing of expected business milestones, including our ability to develop and manufacture electric vehicles of sufficient quality and appeal to customers on schedule and on a large scale; our financial and business performance, including financial projections and business metrics and any underlying assumptions thereunder; changes in our strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects and plans, including our ability to effectively execute the Company’s relocation and streamlined headcount plan within expected costs and time and our ability to realize the expected savings on an ongoing annual basis; our ability to manage and predict the impact of global trade issues and changes in and uncertainties with respect to trade and export regulations, trade policies and sanctions, tariffs, international trade disputes, particularly those relating to China and Taiwan, may have on the Company's ability to sell products domestically and internationally, and the cost of raw materials and components, including tariffs recently imposed or that may be imposed by the U.S. on foreign goods or other tariffs recently imposed or that may be imposed by foreign countries on U.S. goods; retail partners being unwilling to participate in our go-to-market business model or their inability to establish or maintain relationships with customers for our electric vehicles; our ability to attract and retain a large number of customers; challenges we face as a pioneer into the highly-competitive and rapidly evolving electric vehicle industry; our operational and financial risks if we fail to effectively and appropriately separate the LiveWire business from the H-D business; our ability to leverage contract manufacturers, including H-D and Kwang Yang Motor Co., Ltd., a Taiwanese company ("KYMCO"), to contract manufacture our electric vehicles; potential delays in the design, manufacture, financing, regulatory approval, launch and delivery of our electric vehicles; building out our supply chain, including our dependency on our existing suppliers and our ability to source suppliers, in each case many of which are single-sourced or limited-source suppliers, for our critical components such as batteries and semiconductor chips; global trade issues and changes in and uncertainties with respect to trade and export regulations, trade policies, sanctions, tariffs, international trade disputes, particularly those relating to China or Taiwan, geopolitical events and related actions that may occur between mainland China and Taiwan; increased geopolitical volatility and conflicts, such as in the Middle East, our ability to rely on third-party and public charging networks; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; our business, expansion plans and opportunities, including our ability to scale our operations and manage our future growth effectively; the effects on our future business of competition, the pace and depth of electric vehicle adoption generally and our ability to achieve planned competitive advantages with respect to our electric vehicles and products, including with respect to reliability, safety and efficiency; our business and H-D’s business overlapping and being perceived as competitors; our inability to maintain a strong relationship with H-D or to resolve favorably any disputes that may arise between us and H-D; our dependency on H-D for a number of services, including services relating to quality and safety testing. If those service arrangements terminate, it may require significant investment for us to build our own safety and testing facilities, or we may be required to obtain such services from another third-party at increased costs; any decision by us to electrify H-D products, or the products of any other company; our expectations regarding our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection and not infringe on the rights of others; potential harm caused by misappropriation of our data and compromises in cybersecurity; changes in laws, regulatory requirements, governmental incentives and fuel and energy prices; the impact of health epidemics on our business, the other risks we face and the actions we may take in response thereto; litigation, regulatory proceedings, complaints, product liability claims and/or adverse publicity; and the possibility that we may be adversely affected by other economic, business and/or competitive factors. Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified and some of which are beyond our control, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur, and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. Some of these risks and uncertainties may in the future be amplified by new risk factors and uncertainties that may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties. As a result of these factors, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this press release will prove to be accurate. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances, or otherwise. You should read this earnings release completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. LiveWire Group, Inc. Free Cash Flow We use free cash flow, which is a non-GAAP liquidity measure, to supplement our cash used by operating activities as presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"). We believe free cash flow is useful in evaluating our liquidity, as it is similar to measures widely used by certain investors, securities analysts and other interested parties as a supplemental measure of performance and liquidity. We also use this measure internally to establish forecasts, budgets and operational goals to manage and monitor our liquidity. This non-GAAP financial measure may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies, have limitations as analytical tools, and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our operating results as reported in accordance with GAAP. We define free cash flow as net cash used by operating activities, excluding cash paid for ongoing costs related to the Company’s At-The-Market ("ATM") program which results in financing cash inflows, less capital expenditures. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260505666358/en/ Contacts Media Contact: Jenni Coats (414) 343-7902 Financial Contact: Shawn Collins (414) 343-8002

TranscriptFY2026 Q12026-05-05

FY2026 Q1 earnings call transcript

Earnings source - 163 paragraphs
Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Harley-Davidson 2026 first quarter investor and analyst conference call. Please be advised that today's conference call is being recorded. I would now like to hand the call over to Shawn Collins. Thank you. Please go ahead.

Shawn Collins

Thank you. Good morning. This is Shawn Collins, the Director of Investor Relations at Harley-Davidson. You can access the slides supporting today's call on the internet at the Harley-Davidson Investor Relations website. As you might expect, our comments will include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks that could cause actual results to be materially different. Those risks include, among others, matters we have noted in today's earnings release and in our latest filings with the SEC. Joining me for this morning's call are Harley-Davidson Chief Executive Officer, Jochen Zeitz, and Chief Financial and Commercial Officer, Jonathan Root. With that, let me turn it over to Harley-Davidson CEO, Jochen Zeitz.

Jochen Zeitz

Thank you, Shawn, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for our Q1 2026 financial results, as well as an introduction to our new strategic plan, which we're calling Back to the Bricks. I'll begin with an overview of our Q1 performance. Jonathan will then provide additional financial commentary before we turn to our strategy. Before I get into it, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge our deeply committed and passionate Harley-Davidson employees who work tirelessly to bring Harley-Davidson alive across the world. Thank you, Team HD. Starting with retail sales, we're pleased with our performance this quarter. North America delivered a 14% increase versus the prior year, contributing to global retail sales growth of 8%. In what remains a challenging consumer environment, these results reflect the impact of the actions we've taken to drive demand and improve execution.

Jochen Zeitz

As noted on the Q4 earnings call, dealer health and inventory levels remain a key focus for the company. During the quarter, we reduced global inventory by 22% year-over-year, as we continued to prioritize dealer inventory sell-through and aligning wholesale shipments with retail demand. We'll share more detail on this in our strategy discussion. Strengthening dealer relationships has also remained a priority. We recognize the critical role our dealer network plays in the Harley-Davidson ecosystem, and we're encouraged by the renewed sense of partnership and momentum across the network. This will be an important driver as we move forward into our next chapter. During the quarter, we also formally reopened our Juneau Avenue headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, affectionately referred to by our Harley-Davidson community as "The Bricks," with our employees at headquarters returning to the office for the first time since 2020.

Jochen Zeitz

Finally, we've been encouraged by the early reception to our new marketing platform, RIDE. I'll speak more about the brand platform and the value we believe it will bring as part of our strategy presentation. With that, I'll turn it over to Jonathan.

Jonathan Root

Thank you, Jochen Zeitz, and good morning to all. I plan to start on page 4 of the presentation, where I will briefly summarize the financial results for the first quarter. I will go into further detail on each business segment. Let me start with our consolidated financial results for the first quarter of 2026. Consolidated revenue in the first quarter was down 12%, driven primarily by HDFS revenue being down 54% as it moved into a new capital-light model after the closing of the HDFS transaction, where we sold a significant part of the retail loan book and agreed to a forward flow in which we expect to sell approximately two-thirds of future originations. Consolidated operating income in the first quarter came in at $23 million compared to operating income of $160 million in Q1 of 2025.

Jonathan Root

This was driven by a significant year-over-year decline in operating income at both HDMC and HDFS, as we expected. The operating loss at LiveWire was $18 million, which was in line with our expectations and $2 million favorable to a year ago. In Q1, earnings per share was $0.22, which compares to $1.07 in Q1 of 2025. Turning to page 5 and HDMC retail performance. In Q1, North American retail sales of new motorcycles were up 14% versus prior year, with approximately 24,000 motorcycles sold. In Q1, retail sales of new motorcycles outside of North America were down 4% versus prior year, with approximately 10,000 motorcycles sold, resulting in Q1 global retail sales of new motorcycles being up 8% versus the prior year, with a total of approximately 34,000 motorcycles retailed.

Jonathan Root

While we are relatively pleased with the start to the year, particularly in the U.S., we remain mindful of the global consumer discretionary landscape, which remains uneven. We are aware that pricing continues to be on the top of customers' minds given the current global setup that includes inflationary pressures, interest rates that continue to run above recent historical lows, and global geopolitical uncertainty. In North America, Q1 retail sales were up 14%, where U.S. retail sales were up 16%. Canada retail sales were down 8%. Results were driven by continued strength in our Touring and Trike models as consumers reacted well to our new 2026 motorcycle launch and targeted customer incentives. This translated into a significant market share gain, with Harley-Davidson reaching 38% of the U.S. 601 cc+ market, up 2 percentage points year-over-year.

Jonathan Root

Dealer inventory in North America declined 21% year-over-year, reflecting a more balanced setup as we enter the main riding season. In EMEA, Q1 retail sales posted a modest decline of 3%. In the quarter, performance reflected a subdued economic environment in Europe, although supported with early model year 2026 product momentum across the continent, as evidenced by the quick sell-through of new units that began arriving later in Q1. The Revolution Max platform continued to outperform the broader portfolio, led by Adventure Touring, which showed strong growth year-over-year. In addition, from a market share standpoint, we moved from 2% to 4% of share in the European market in Q1. In Asia Pacific, Q1 retail sales declined by 9%.

Jonathan Root

In the quarter, we experienced modest declines in the core portfolio, including Touring, Trike, and Softail, reflecting broad-based pressure across Japan, Australia, and China, partially offset by positive results in our non-core motorcycle portfolio with strength in Adventure Touring. In Latin America, Q1 retail sales delivered another strong quarter with retail up 21%, where both Brazil, our largest Latin American market, and Mexico were up, while other Latin American countries were down modestly year-over-year. Touring and Trike were the standout categories in the market. Dealer inventory at the end of Q1 of 2026 was down 22% versus the end of Q1 of 2025. Specifically, North American dealer inventory was down 21%, and dealer inventory outside of North America was down 23%. This has allowed Harley-Davidson dealers to start the upcoming 2026 riding season with a largely appropriate setup.

Jonathan Root

In addition, the quality of dealer inventory is healthier today than 1 year ago, as it is more current from a model year standpoint. At the end of Q1, North America dealer inventory was comprised of approximately two-thirds of current model year 2026 motorcycles. In comparison, in the prior year period, a little less than one-half of all dealer inventory was current model year. We expect this improvement in healthy dealer inventory to pay dividends in future periods and believe it sets Harley-Davidson and our dealers up for greater success. Before we get into revenue, let's conclude with some information on wholesale shipments. From a wholesale shipment perspective, in Q1 of 2026, we delivered approximately 37,300 units compared to 38,600 units in Q1 of 2025, which is down 3% year-over-year.

Jonathan Root

As we are now beginning the prime riding season in North America, we have recently heard from dealers that they could benefit from more inventory with regard to particular places, models, and trim levels. This is a good sign, and we expect to ship more units on a year-over-year basis in Q2 and Q4 while running lower in Q3 in comparison to the prior year periods. We expect this will get us to a more even shipment cadence across the quarters in comparison to what we have delivered in recent years. Turning to page 6 and HDMC revenue performance. In Q1, HDMC revenue decreased by 2%, coming in at $1.1 billion.

Jonathan Root

We point out that from a business line standpoint, motorcycles came in at $836 million, P&A plus apparel came in at $200 million, and licensing and other came in at $20 million. The drivers of overall revenue at HDMC included lower volume or shipments and lower net pricing and incentive spend. These were partially offset by favorable foreign currency. Turning to page 7 and HDMC margin performance. In Q1, HDMC gross profit came in at 25.3%, which compares to 29.1% in the prior year.

Jonathan Root

The year-over-year decrease was driven by the unfavorable impacts of increased tariff costs of $45 million in Q1, which will be covered in more detail in the next slide, net pricing and incentive spend due to effective sell-through of prior model year dealer inventory, product mix, lower volumes, and higher than expected supply management costs as we work through a unique supplier situation. These were partially offset by the positive effects of tariff recoveries, settlement from prior years, and favorable foreign exchange. In Q1, operating expenses totaled $248 million, which was $49 million higher compared to prior year. This falls into 2 broad buckets. The first piece is a restructuring expense of $15 million, driven by costs incurred related to strategic changes, including the company's decision to eliminate certain roles, resulting in one-time employee termination benefits and other restructuring charges.

Jonathan Root

The second piece consists of $34 million of additional costs in the quarter, specifically due to higher warranty spend due to select product recalls, select people costs, primarily related to executive team changes on a year-over-year basis. Increased marketing spend as the Marketing Development Fund matures and limited other discrete expenses to operate the business. In Q1, HDMC had operating income of $19 million, which compares to operating income of $116 million in the prior year period. Turning to slide 8. In 2026, the overall global tariff regulatory environment continues to evolve. There are a number of factors at play in this space, including the potential for increased tariff recoveries, evolution in the application of IEPA Section 122, and updates to Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs.

Jonathan Root

In Q1, we saw the most significant year-over-year impact in tariffs we expect to experience this year. This is a result of the increased tariff levels, which were initially put in place beginning in Q2 of 2025. In Q1 of 2026, the cost of new or increased tariffs was $45 million. As tariff policy changes, there are lags associated with the various tariff levels as these adjustments work their way through our parts inventory imported prior to the current Section 232 pronouncements. We continue to pursue mitigation actions where possible and pursue tariff recoveries when applicable. We note that recent U.S. administration tariff regulation announced in early April included an exemption on certain motorcycles and for parts and accessories for the use in the manufacturing of motorcycles. We would note that Harley-Davidson is a business very centered in and around the United States.

Jonathan Root

3 of our 4 manufacturing centers are U.S.-based. 100% of our U.S. core product is manufactured in the U.S. This change will serve in helping mitigate the impact to tariffs to Harley-Davidson and enable us to strengthen our commitment to U.S. manufacturing. At this point in time, we expect the cost of increased tariffs to be in a range of $75 million-$90 million for the full year 2026, which is favorable to what we guided to in our prior quarter. From a cadence perspective, our expected tariff amount will decrease consecutively as we work our way across the remaining quarters in 2026. Turning to HDFS on page 9.

Jonathan Root

At Harley-Davidson Financial Services, Q1 revenue came in at $112 million, a decrease of 54%, driven by lower interest income due to the decline in retail receivables related to the sale of loan assets as part of the new HDFS transaction. Other income within HDFS revenue was favorable year-over-year, due primarily to new servicing fees, investment income, and new gains on third-party loan sales. HDFS operating income was $22 million, representing an operating income margin of 19.9%. On the expense side, interest expense and the provision for credit loss expense were both significantly lower, which was due to the decreased size of the retail loan portfolio and related debt on a year-over-year basis, and as expected with the change in strategy associated with the HDFS transaction.

Jonathan Root

The HDFS team continues to manage expenses prudently, with operating expenses decreasing by $1 million versus prior year. Turning to page 10. In Q1, HDFS's annualized retail credit loss ratio on managed loans was 3.6%, which compares to 3.8% in the year-ago period. We are pleased with HDFS loan origination activities as total retail loan originations in Q1 were up 14%, coming in at $671 million in Q1. Total gross financing receivables were $2.5 billion at the end of Q1, where retail receivables were $1.3 billion and commercial receivables were $1.2 billion. Turning to slide 11 for the LiveWire segment. For the first quarter of 2026, LiveWire revenue increased 87% over prior year, driven by increases in electric motorcycle and STACYC brand electric balanced bike units.

Jonathan Root

Consolidated operating loss decreased by 11%, resulting from improved gross profit and lower selling, administrative, and engineering expenses. In turn, this drove an improvement of over 25% in net cash used by operating activities in Q1 of 2026 compared to Q1 of 2025. For 2026, LiveWire's focus is heavily geared around the imminent launch of its S4 Honcho products, in particular, continued network expansion, cost savings and improvements, and product innovation and development focused on products that will be profitable and positive drivers of cash flow. Now, turning to slide 12. Wrapping up with consolidated Harley-Davidson, Inc. financial results. We had net cash use of $228 million from operating activities in Q1, which compares to $142 million of operating cash in the prior year period.

Jonathan Root

Operating cash flow was lower than the prior year due to reduced cash inflows at HDMC on lower wholesale shipments. Also, at HDFS, the operating cash flow decreased due to reduced interest income and due to new originations of retail finance receivables under the forward flow arrangement that were classified as held for sale, which is classified as an operating activity under US GAAP. As a result, the originations to be sold to our strategic partners or outflows reduced cash flow from operations as there were no comparative retail finance receivable originations classified as held for sale in the first quarter of the prior year. This was partially offset by the inflows from the proceeds from the sale of retail finance receivables classified as held for sale.

Jonathan Root

This will remain a distinct year-over-year item as we move through 2026 as a result of the HDFS transaction, which concluded throughout the second half of 2025. Total cash and cash equivalents ended Q1 of 2026 at $1.8 billion compared to $1.9 billion a year ago. As part of our share buyback strategy, in Q4 of 2025, we entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement to repurchase $200 million of shares of the company's common stock. As part of the ASR agreement, we received $160 million, or 80% of the notional worth of shares, or 6.3 million shares delivered to us before December 31st, 2025, with the remainder expected to be delivered in early 2026.

Jonathan Root

On February 12th, 2026, our ASR was concluded, and we received an additional 3.1 million shares on February 13th, 2026. These shares had a value of $64.7 million considering the share price during the ASR's performance period. Beyond the ASR, the company also repurchased another 3.5 million shares on a discretionary basis for $63.3 million in the first quarter of 2026. Therefore, in Q1, we repurchased a total of 6.6 million shares worth $128 million on a discretionary basis. We note that since our Q2 of 2024 earnings announcement, where we also announced a plan to repurchase $1 billion worth of our shares through 2026, that we have repurchased a total of 26.8 million shares.

Jonathan Root

That is a total value of $726 million of Harley-Davidson shares purchased. We are pleased with the performance and have decided to conclude reporting on this program as we look forward to aligning our capital allocation approach with the updated strategy that Jochen Zeitz and I will walk through shortly. Share buybacks remain an important part of our capital allocation strategy, and you will hear more on this, including a refreshed and updated approach to capital return to shareholders. As we enter the main riding season, we remain pleased with our dealer inventory levels and leading market share position in the U.S., new model year 26 motorcycle launch, including the new limited Touring motorcycles and the all-new redesigned Trike models.

Jonathan Root

We are also pleased with the reception to a number of new, more affordable motorcycles, which have a focus on critical price points to help stoke demand. While we are not changing our financial guidance, we would note that our optimism on the year has increased. This is due in large part to our retail results in North America, and we are also pleased with the early actioning of our cost reduction work. For the full year 2026, the company reaffirms its guidance and continues to expect at HDMC retail units of 130,000 to 135,000 and wholesale units of 130,000 to 135,000. We believe that global dealer inventory levels are healthy, and therefore, we expect retail and wholesale to have a largely 1-to-1 relationship in 2026.

Jonathan Root

In line with my earlier comments versus prior year, we expect shipments to be higher in Q2, relatively flat in Q3, and then up again in Q4. At the same time, we continue to expect production units at HDMC to be lower than wholesale units shipped in 2026 as we work to prudently manage overall company inventory levels. For 2026, we expect this will have a deleverage impact, which will put pressure on operating leverage and operating margin that we expect to come into alignment by next year. In addition, we still expect to face a greater overall cost for incremental tariffs in 2026 compared to 2025, and which we covered in detail previously.

Jonathan Root

As a reminder, in full year 2025, we incurred a cost of $67 million in new or increased tariffs, and in 2026, we forecast a cost of between $75 million-$90 million of new or increased tariffs based upon current tariff levels and versus a 2024 baseline. This is an update to the prior range we provided of $75 million-$105 million. At HDMC, we expect operating income of +$10 million to a loss of $40 million. At HDFS, we expect operating income of $45 million-$60 million. As a reminder, the new business model at HDFS, given the HDFS transaction, where Harley-Davidson Financial Services now employs a capital-light, de-risked business model and has a significantly changed financial earnings profile relative to before the transaction.

Jonathan Root

For LiveWire, we are forecasting an operating loss in the range of $70 million-$80 million. With that, I'll turn it back to Jochen Zeitz to cover our strategic plan.

Jochen Zeitz

Now turning to our strategic plan for Harley-Davidson. On behalf of our Harley-Davidson community, Jonathan and I are excited to introduce our Back to the Bricks plan, designed to reignite brand enthusiasm with riders around the world while driving profitable growth for our dealers and shareholders. It is grounded in the work we've done since October. We've spent significant time assessing the business, engaging deeply with dealers and riders, and most recently through a global roadshow, where we connected directly with the majority of our dealer network and all of our global dealer advisory councils. The Back to the Bricks plan will restore Harley-Davidson and position the company for growth. First, we are intensely focused on leveraging Harley-Davidson's competitive advantages, specifically brand, diversified revenue channels, and most notably P&A and financing products, and our dealer network. Second, we are leaning into a true win-win model with our dealer network.

Jochen Zeitz

Our dealers are not only our retail channel, but the frontline builders of our rider community. They are the true source of strength and a competitive advantage. When our dealers win, the enterprise wins, and so do our shareholders. Third, we have already taken immediate actions to recapture share by better serving the large and community of riders where Harley-Davidson has a clear right to win. Fourth, we're doing this from a position of strength and plan to leverage our balance sheet, bolstered by cost and restructuring actions to enable both investment in the business and returns to shareholders. We are executing against a clear path to strong and growing free cash flow and EBITDA margin. Lastly, we've brought on some great leadership talent to support the business as we enter this new chapter for the company.

Jochen Zeitz

Moving to slide 3, there are really 3 things that define Harley-Davidson. First, we are a 123-year young brand that designs and manufactures the best motorcycles in the world, combining iconic design, precision engineering, and a look, sound, and feel that is unmistakably Harley-Davidson. Second, through our best-in-class dealer network, we serve a global community across segments we've helped define over decades. Our riders show up in powerful ways through HOG chapters, rallies, events, and by giving back to their local communities. Third, maybe most importantly, is the culture of riding. Since starting at the company, I've spent time with riders and dealers at events, rallies, and swap meets, and what stands out is the emotional connection. Riders talk about their motorcycles, their rides, and their community in deeply personal ways. For them, riding isn't just about getting somewhere. It's about the experience itself.

Jochen Zeitz

The ride is the destination. Turning to slide 4, we're in the midst of a bold restoration of the business to drive value for shareholders. What's clear is that our heritage remains a powerful advantage, not something to preserve, but something to build from. It starts with our portfolio. Taking a step back over the last several years, we leaned heavily into Touring and electric. Going forward, we are shifting to a more rider-centric portfolio, one that is more accessible, more customizable, and better aligned to the needs of the full spectrum of our riders. Touring will always remain our core. We're building clearer pathways into the brand that support long-term Touring growth while also addressing other riding occasions and styles. Importantly, we can do this using our existing platforms, moving from too many of too few to a more balanced lineup.

Jochen Zeitz

We're also adopting an enterprise profitability model, recognizing that our success is directly tied to the success of our dealers. When dealers win, we win. By aligning Harley-Davidson and dealer economics, we can create more value for riders, stronger profitability for dealers, and more dependable cash flow for shareholders. I'll come back to this in more detail shortly. Another key pillar is Parts & Accessories. Customization is at the heart of Harley-Davidson. It's how riders make each bike their own. What we often think of as freedom for the soul or more personally, freedom for your soul. We're reestablishing Parts & Accessories as a core growth driver. One where we have a clear right to win and in alignment with dealers, as this is an important component of their profitability. We're also reinforcing Motor Clothes and Apparel, growing from the core of the brand.

Jochen Zeitz

On promotions, as inventory is normalized, we are shifting to a more targeted and disciplined approach, one that supports volume while protecting margins. An expanded portfolio will play an important role here as well. From an investment standpoint, we continue to see upside in existing platforms, particularly within Touring, but our near-term focus is on executing better with the platforms we already have, rather than introducing entirely new ones. By leveraging our existing platforms and powertrain to bring new motorcycles to market, we are operating with a more capital-efficient model. We've taken important steps to refocus our brand around our community, as reflected in the launch of the RIDE marketing platform. Taken together, we believe these actions position us to revitalize the business by leaning into what has always made Harley-Davidson strong and executing with greater clarity and discipline.

Jochen Zeitz

As you can see on slide 5, that's had a direct and meaningful impact on both company and dealer performance. At the core of this is a loss of relevancy with riders, most notably with the exit of iconic motorcycles like the Sportster, which limited accessibility and contributed to lower volumes. Additionally, we are excited to introduce Sprint, the perfect entry for many to the Harley-Davidson brand. At the same time, as volumes declined, our cost base remained largely fixed, putting pressure on margins and driving a greater reliance on broad-based promotions, particularly on higher-priced motorcycles. Importantly, lower throughput has had a direct impact on our dealers, reducing traffic, compressing profitability, and limiting the performance of key revenue streams like parts and accessories and service. All of this reinforces a critical point.

Jochen Zeitz

Restoring profitable volume is central to improving overall performance, and that's exactly what our strategy is designed to address, making the brand more accessible through a combination of portfolio changes, more targeted pricing and promotions, and improved operational execution. Moving to slide 6. While recent performance has been impacted, the underlying market opportunity remains significant. We see meaningful white space in existing markets, areas where Harley-Davidson has strong legacy equity and a clear right to win. Across new motorcycles, used motorcycles, parts and accessories, and apparel, there is share of wallet that we were capturing as recently as 2019 that we are no longer capturing today. That creates a very direct opportunity to regain market share and do so in segments where our brand is already strong. Importantly, this strategy is not about entering new categories where we lack a competitive advantage.

Jochen Zeitz

It's about doubling down on the categories we know, where we have credibility, scale, and deep rider connection. We believe this positions us to regain lost share while driving meaningful volume growth over time. Turning to our strengths on slide 7. The foundation of Harley-Davidson is its legacy, an unparalleled brand with unique American heritage, as recognized recently by USA Today as part of their Fifty Iconic Brands That Shaped America series. Underpinned by a best-in-class dealer experience, deeply committed riders, and craftsmanship that delivers something truly unique. When I first joined the company, those advantages were immediately clear, and as we've looked more closely at the data, they've only become more compelling. We are one of the most recognized and esteemed brands in the category, and in many ways, we help define it.

Jochen Zeitz

Our dealer network is a true competitive advantage, consistently delivering a best-in-class customer experience and serving as the front line of our brand. Our riders have an incredible affinity for Harley-Davidson. They don't just buy our products, they live our brand. It's a level of loyalty and engagement that is difficult to replicate. All of this is anchored in superior craftsmanship and quality that continues to resonate strongly with our riders. Taken together, these strengths provide a powerful foundation as we execute our plan and move the business forward. Turning to our strategic roadmap on slide 8. Against the backdrop we've just discussed, we've developed a plan for the next several years that unfolds in 3 clear phases. First is the reset. This phase is already underway and focused on taking cost out, right-sizing dealer inventory, strengthening our dealer relationships, and rolling out the RIDE marketing platform.

Jochen Zeitz

We're making progress across all these areas, and today we'll provide an update on that momentum. Second is the growth phase. Beginning next year, you'll see a more expanded and balanced portfolio designed around what riders want while leveraging the full lifecycle of the motorcycle to unlock additional revenue streams. Parts and Accessories will play a much larger role, both in dealerships and as a core revenue driver. At the same time, we're refining our promotional approach to be more targeted, driving traffic and volume while preserving profitability. Third is the acceleration of value creation. As the portfolio becomes more accessible and better aligned to needs of our full spectrum of riders, we see opportunity to deepen ridership engagement. This includes greater participation in the used motorcycle ecosystem, as well as further driving adjacent areas like Apparel and Licensing.

Jochen Zeitz

With the foundation established in the first 2 phases, we believe we are well-positioned to drive more sustainable enterprise growth and wider economic enterprise benefits. Turning to slide 9, what are we doing right now? We've already begun putting this plan into action. We're encouraged by the early momentum. As part of phase 1, our actions on cost and inventory have been swift and effective. We've moved quickly to reduce headcount and take cost out of cost of goods sold, creating room to reinvest in key growth areas like parts and accessories. As we previously outlined, we expect to deliver at least $150 million in annual run rate cost savings that will impact 2027 and beyond versus 2025 levels. At the same time, we've made meaningful progress on inventory.

Jochen Zeitz

Global retail inventory is now at a much healthier level, down significantly, 22% year-over-year. We still see opportunity to improve assortment and allocation at the dealer level. Importantly, these actions are starting to translate into results. We're seeing sales momentum return with retail growth and market share gains, including an 8% increase in global retail sales in Q1 2026. Turning to our dealers on slide 10. The Harley-Davidson dealer network is a clear competitive advantage. Our strategy is intentionally designed to support and strengthen their profitability. I firmly believe this company will go only as far as our dealers take us. That's why dealer profitability is a central pillar of our plan. Since joining, I've spent a significant amount of time with dealers, along with the broader leadership team, listening and learning directly from them on the ground.

Jochen Zeitz

Our focus is on earning their trust and ensuring they're confident and excited about the path forward. We've already taken action through inventory right-sizing, better alignment on promotions, and structural improvements to dealer programs. We're not done. There are additional actions ahead that we expect to further strengthen dealer economics. Our objective is clear, to materially improve dealer profitability over time, supporting a stronger, more stable network and enabling long-term growth. As shown on the slide, we are targeting a meaningful step-up in dealer profitability over the next several years. Moving to slide 11, it's important to understand the role dealers play in the Harley-Davidson ecosystem. Dealer profitability is non-negotiable and ultimately a win for shareholders. At the core, brick-and-mortar economics and frontline enthusiasm are directly linked.

Jochen Zeitz

When our dealers are profitable, they can invest in their business, delivering a better rider experience at the point of interaction with our brand. Stronger dealer economics also reduce the need for discounting and OEM promotional support, helping preserve the premium positioning and long-term health of the brand. Dealers are not just our primary sales channel. They are a powerful marketing engine, building the brand in local communities at scale. When they are successful, we unlock the ability to invest more in rider growth through initiatives like Riding Academy, HOG engagement, and events that deepen connection to the brand. Importantly, healthy dealer profitability attracts capital, bringing more investment into the network and supporting long-term rider-centric growth. Moving to slide 12, I want to spend a moment on the lens through which we're now viewing growth and profitability.

Jochen Zeitz

We've done significant work to better understand how we make money as one enterprise, Harley-Davidson and our dealers together. What's clear is that focusing solely on wholesale and retail motorcycle margins is an incomplete view. A motorcycle generates value over its entire life cycle across parts and accessories, service, finance and insurance, and ultimately the used market. Importantly, Harley-Davidson and our dealers participate in that value at different points in time across multiple revenue streams. Going forward, we're managing the business against this broader enterprise economic model. By increasing new motorcycle volumes, we not only drive profit at the point of sale, we also expand the base of motorcycles in the market, which fuels downstream revenue across all of these channels. We believe this will create a more stable, diversified, and sustainable earnings profile over time. It also changes how we think about the portfolio.

Jochen Zeitz

We intend to bring motorcycles to market in a way that supports the full enterprise profit model, not just the economics of an individual launch or motorcycle. We expect this to reduce pressure on any single product and lead to more balanced performance across cycles. Importantly, the portfolio changes we're making, particularly around accessibility and customization, play directly into this model by supporting higher volumes and stronger lifecycle value. Over time, we plan for this to become a compounding growth engine. The return of Sportster and the introduction of new models like Sprint are great examples of how this approach will create value across the system. We're really excited to announce that our iconic Harley-Davidson Sportster will be returning in 2027. This has been the most requested motorcycle from both our riders and our dealers. We're bringing it back better than ever.

Jochen Zeitz

Sportster is a perfect embodiment of Back to the Bricks. It fits naturally within our enterprise economic model. For context, Sportster has historically been a middleweight, highly customizable motorcycle with an air-cooled powertrain and accessible starting price point, making it an important entry to the Harley-Davidson brand. While it was discontinued in 2022, it has remained incredibly strong in the used market, often retaining value at or above original MSRP, which speaks to its enduring appeal. With its accessibility, we expect Sportster to drive higher volumes. With its customization potential, we expect strong attachment to parts and accessories as riders personalize their motorcycles. Beyond the motorcycle itself, Sportster also creates opportunity across Apparel, Licensing, and the broader rider ecosystem. Importantly, it demonstrates how our strategy generates value across the full life cycle, from the initial sale to entry into the used market.

Jochen Zeitz

Taken together, Sportster is a critical part of our plan to restore volume, strengthen our portfolio, and drive long-term enterprise value. We look forward to sharing more specifics later this year. Additionally, we're excited to bring Sprint to market beginning in the back half of 2026. This lightweight, customizable, and accessible motorcycle provides a great entry to the brand for many riders. We are excited to be returning to a space that we haven't been in since the 1960s, and we believe that the Sprint will provide a great starting point for riders to enter the brand as they progress through the portfolio. Over the coming periods, we will be providing more detail on how this aligns with our portfolio planning and lifetime value creation.

Jochen Zeitz

Moving to slide 15, zooming out to a broader view of the portfolio, we are taking deliberate steps to realign the portfolio, making it more rider-centric and better positioned to replicate the value creation cycle we just discussed across more models. Over the past few years, pricing and portfolio decisions reduced accessibility for some riders, which contributed to lower volumes and ultimately pressure on profitability. We're addressing that directly. Going forward, you'll see a more balanced lineup across price points while still maintaining our premium positioning. We're also expanding the use of blank canvas motorcycles, which we know is a key differentiator for Harley-Davidson, giving riders more opportunity to personalize their motorcycles through genuine parts and accessories. These changes are informed by deep analysis of the used market, direct dealer engagement, and what we've learned from recent promotional activity.

Jochen Zeitz

Importantly, we see clear gaps in the portfolio that we can address efficiently without starting from scratch. We're leveraging our existing platforms and powertrain where we see significant room for growth, allowing us to expand the lineup without incremental capital investment. Taken together, this positions us to deliver what riders want, improve accessibility, and drive stronger volume and lifecycle value across the portfolio. Now, turning to Parts & Accessories on slide 16. This is one of our most important revenue channels and a significant growth opportunity. We believe there is a potential to drive 20%-30% sales growth over time. We also recognize that we've underinvested in this area in recent years. Customization is at the core of the Harley-Davidson experience and a key driver of dealer profitability. No two Harley-Davidson motorcycles on the road are the same, and that's exactly how riders want it.

Jochen Zeitz

We've laid out a clear roadmap to rebuild our leadership in parts and accessories, leveraging our dealer network and existing manufacturing and supply chain capabilities. That starts with expanding our assortment, including reinstating approximately 30% of SKUs that were previously eliminated. We're also refocusing on core categories where Harley-Davidson has historically been strong, like seats, exhaust, lighting, windshields, and handlebars, and pairing that with an increased emphasis on blank canvas motorcycles that are designed for personalization. Importantly, we're integrating parts and accessories into the motorcycle launch process, ensuring availability at launch, supported by HDFS financing and aligned dealer incentives. As we execute this, we expect stronger dealer performance, increased attachment rates, and ultimately both revenue growth and margin expansion over time. Turning to slide 17, we're also refining our approach to promotions. Historically, our promotional activity has been broader and less targeted.

Jochen Zeitz

More recently, we used promotions to help reset elevated dealer inventory, which, while necessary, put pressure on profitability. Now, with inventory at healthier levels, we're shifting to a more disciplined and targeted approach focused on driving traffic and conversion at a lower cost. An important enabler of this is our expanding portfolio, which allows for more value-based messaging across a broader range of products rather than relying on heavy discounting on a narrower mix. Also strengthening our capabilities with recent hires who bring deep experience in performance marketing and automotive retail. The launch of our Marketing Development Fund in 2025 is a key step in better aligning scale with more effective localized dealer messaging. Together, these efforts are improving how we manage incentive spend, driving more predictable growth while recognizing that many riders don't require heavy promotion to convert.

Jochen Zeitz

The result is a more efficient model, which we believe will support volume recovery while protecting margins. Now turning to our marketing approach on slide 18. Last month, we launched our new brand platform, RIDE, which really brings everything together. It's built on a simple but powerful insight, joy and swagger. At its core, RIDE celebrates the experience of riding, and most importantly, our riders themselves. They and their motorcycles are the stars of the show. This reflects a broader shift in how we show up as a brand. We're moving toward more authentic, rider-focused storytelling that reinforces the community and culture at the heart of Harley-Davidson. We're also reallocating our marketing investments, moving away from a heavier e-commerce spend and toward top-of-funnel brand-building efforts to drive awareness and engagement. You may have even seen us recently on Wheel of Fortune.

Jochen Zeitz

At the same time, we're making better use of tools like the Marketing Development Fund while upgrading our digital platforms and programs to support both global scale and local activation. Perhaps most importantly, the power of RIDE is that it gives us a single unified voice while still allowing flexibility for riders and dealers around the world to bring the brand to life in their own way. It connects all aspects of Harley-Davidson, from product to community to marketing, under one cohesive platform. As you can see on the slide, it creates a clear and flexible framework for how we bring the brand to life across riders, dealers, and markets around the world. Over time, we expect this to drive stronger engagement, deeper relevance, and ultimately growth. I'll hand it over to Jonathan to take you through the financial section. Jonathan, over to you.

Jonathan Root

Thanks, Jochen Zeitz. Turning to our financials on slide 21. All of the facets of the strategy we've just laid out support our financial growth trajectory over the next few years. We believe we have a clear path to achieving $350 million plus EBITDA in 2027. The path to get there is clear and execution-driven, anchored by roughly $150 million in fixed cost reduction, better alignment between wholesale and retail volumes, the full impact of Sportster and Sprint, targeted expansion in high-margin Parts and Accessories, and more effective disciplined promotions. Beyond 2027, the story doesn't stop. We expect continued strong growth driven by further cost absorption, a broader P&A and motorcycle portfolio, incremental product improvement, and smarter incentive execution. The bottom line is this is a structural step change in profitability with clear levers and meaningful upside ahead.

Jonathan Root

Now, on slide 22, we'll take a closer look at how we get there. This bridge outlines the key initiatives that will drive EBITDA improvement. In the near term, the focus will be on cost reduction and operating leverage, which we see as the primary drivers of performance. With these actions already underway, we have a clear line of sight to achieving $350 million or more. Beyond 2027, drivers for continued growth will include but not be limited to improvements in motorcycle margins and volume, supported by growth in Parts and Accessories. Turning to our medium-term targets on slide 23, we expect to return to sustainable growth across key metrics. We expect to achieve mid-single-digit retail unit growth over the medium term. As already discussed, this return to growth will be driven by the significant actions we are taking across our business.

Jonathan Root

Furthermore, we expect the momentum in retail units and other enabling actions to drive mid-single-digit growth in P&A and A&L. Combined with the ongoing inventory right sizing, we expect this return to growth to have a significant impact on dealer health. From a margin standpoint, we expect to drive significant improvement in gross margins approaching 30%, while operating expenses as a percentage of sales decrease to less than 20% from the 25% in 2025. Over the midterm, we expect CapEx to remain broadly in line with recent expenditure levels. In totality, we expect to deliver attractive top-line growth and drive towards a 10%-12% EBITDA margin over the medium term. These targets reflect a more balanced and resilient business model underpinned by the Back to the Bricks strategy. I'll now touch briefly on HDFS on slide 24.

Jonathan Root

We believe that the business remains a highly strategic asset. Following the transaction, we have transitioned to a more capital-light model while maintaining HDFS's role in supporting motorcycle sales and dealer financing. We recently held a call to discuss the HDFS business in greater detail, but at a high level, we expect HDFS to see improved returns while reducing capital intensity. We expect to continue to strengthen HDFS's leading position in powersports and intend to expand our high-value finance and insurance product suite with optimized offers supporting motorcycle sales. In connection with our enhanced P&A offerings, HDFS plans to leverage additional financing to drive P&A sales. Lastly, we are also better training dealers to maintain the best-in-class penetration rate of HDFS. With all this in mind, we are targeting $125 million-$150 million in operating income for the business by 2029.

Jonathan Root

Turning to capital allocation on slide 25, our priorities remain consistent. We will reinvest in the business where we see opportunities to drive growth across the key initiatives of our strategy. We also remain committed to returning capital to our shareholders through share buybacks and dividends. Additionally, we remain open to opportunistic value additive M&A. With that, I'll hand it back to Jochen Zeitz.

Jochen Zeitz

Thank you, Jonathan. To conclude, Harley-Davidson is built on a strong foundation, an iconic brand, a deeply loyal rider base, and a differentiated dealer network. We're excited about the path forward. Our dealers are energized, and we're seeing real enthusiasm from the rider community around Back to the Bricks. This strategy is intentionally grounded in our core strengths, and we're doubling down on what makes Harley-Davidson unique, especially our dealer network. Importantly, execution is already underway, and we're seeing early signs that our actions are delivering results. We're doing this from a position of strength with a solid financial foundation to support both investment in the business and returns to shareholders. We have the right team in place, energized and equipped with the experience needed to deliver on this plan.

Jochen Zeitz

We remain committed to working closely with our dealers every step of the way to create value for our riders and ultimately for our shareholders. Thank you for your time this morning. With that, we'll take your questions.

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you do have questions for today, all you need to do is to hit star plus 1 on your telephone keypad for today. We'll take our first question from today, and that is from the line of Robin Farley from UBS. Your line is live.

Robin Farley

Great. Thank you. 2 questions, if I may. The first is just wondering what medium term is. 2029 medium term, just to kind of put a finer point on thinking about the targets. The other question is a little bit trickier with tariffs. Some of the bridge to your 2027 EBITDA is from I guess lower tariffs lumped in with some other things. If you could just help us think about what you're expecting, what's factored in in terms of tariff refunds into that. Your full year 2026 guide was unchanged, but tariffs seem a little better. Maybe there's an offset there.

Robin Farley

Just, I don't know if the manufacturing for Sprint, if you're assuming tariffs on that, if that's going to be outside the U.S. and potentially tariffed. I know that's a lot of tariffs balled up into one, but just whatever you want to address. Thank you.

Jochen Zeitz

Great. Robin, thank you. It's Jochen Zeitz. Appreciate the questions. I'll take the first one, and then I'll let Jonathan Root handle the tariff specifics. When we say medium term, we mean 3 to 5 years. Hopefully that helps. On the tariff piece, Jonathan Root.

Jonathan Root

Yeah. Thank you, Robin. From a tariff standpoint, I think when you look at our 2026 estimate, we obviously have a midpoint of $83 million. On that, if you look within the first quarter, we had $45 million in tariffs that were paid. That leaves $38 million, again, just using the midpoint for simplicity, for the balance of the year. Our viewpoint is that tariff amount will consecutively decrease by quarter, as we benefit from the current tariff structure that we laid out on our slides. In, you know, effective Q2, as we got into April, there were some changes from an overall tariff philosophy perspective that were put out there. You see the benefits of those. Obviously, that sort of accrues over time.

Jonathan Root

We think that that sets us up for 2027. We're not providing 2027 guidance at this point, a 2027 that is arguably more attractive than where we are from a 2026 perspective. You can infer and use some of your own judgment on where that lands. From a tariff refund perspective, there's obviously a tremendous number of companies, large and small, across the United States that are working on tariff refund and approach to tariff refund right now. Obviously, we will be working and following all of the guidelines that we need to from a tariff refund perspective, a little difficult for us to talk through some of the specifics on timing and when all of those dollars will hit throughout the year.

Jonathan Root

We certainly have a little bit of benefit baked into our expectation, but it's not a tremendous driver for us. It's really more as we look, what are the current tariff rules that are in place? How do we think that will accrue? You see the benefit that we've put in place from a guide perspective versus what we originally guided to for 2026.

Robin Farley

Thank you.

Jonathan Root

You're welcome.

Operator

Thanks for your questions. Our next question comes from the line of James Hardiman with Citigroup. Your line is live.

James Hardiman

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. 2 questions on sort of the Back to the Bricks opportunity. I guess first, you know, when we talk to investors, you know, the 1,000-pound gorilla, fair or not, is sort of the demographic backdrop, right? Specifically, lower popularity of motorcycling if you think about younger generations, maybe relative to their baby boomer counterparts. Jochen Zeitz, obviously, that's something that you've had to consider. How does the Back to the Bricks address that? You know, obviously, you've got some market share recapture goals that are pretty aggressive. Is there any concern that market share gains could be offset by category declines if those demographic headwinds persist? I did have a follow-up, if we could.

Jochen Zeitz

Sure.

James Hardiman

Go ahead.

Jochen Zeitz

Well, James, thanks for your question. I think the biggest thing in this strategy Back to the Bricks is we're prioritizing rider needs in a rider-centric portfolio. You know, we specifically called out, you know, two examples of how we're doing that. The Sportster, one of our most iconic motorcycles as recently as, you know, 5, 6 years ago, the market for that motorcycle was $35,000-$40,000 plus on a global basis. Our riders and many younger riders, and our dealers, have expressed it is the number one universal request from the Motor Company to deliver on a great Harley-Davidson Sportster, and what we're talking about today is the 883.

Jochen Zeitz

When I look at the demographics, how young people have always entered our brand, over 123 years, it has been motorcycles like the Sportster, over the last, 30 or 40 years, the Sportster has been a critical entry point to the brand. The second motorcycle is the Sprint. We have not had a motorcycle like the Sprint in some time. We see it filling an important need in Riding Academy. As someone who recently went through Riding Academy, being able to get on a motorcycle and then buy that same or a similar motorcycle is a gap in our current portfolio, which we're extremely enthusiastic about what the Sprint's gonna do.

Jochen Zeitz

I'd remind you that, you know, the number of M designations at least in the U.S. right now, is quite strong, as strong as it's been. We see the opportunity for us as we present the brand, as you look at the marketing campaign, this concept of joy and swagger is something that we believe is and will resonate with young people. It's core to bringing young people into the brand over many, many years, which the brand had done successfully. I'm quite optimistic. The portfolio of motorcycles we're bringing forward I think addresses this well.

James Hardiman

That's great. It's a great sort of dovetail into sort of my follow-up question. You know, obviously, as we think about your medium-term targets of mid-single digit retail growth, most specifically, I think if investors felt comfortable with that number alone, this would probably be a $40 or $50 stock, right?

Jochen Zeitz

Sure.

James Hardiman

Help us understand that target while factoring in the return of Sportster and the introduction of Sprint. How much of that retail growth is coming from those items? I'm just trying to understand sort of the organic versus the inorganic contributors to that mid-single digit retail growth. Can you get to a place where the organic piece is also growing at a nice clip? Thanks.

Jochen Zeitz

Sure. You know, thanks for the question. The Sportster is, you know, is an important part, and Sprint obviously complements it as well. I referenced the volumes on Sportster historically. I'll go back to, you know, we feel that if we meet our riders where they're at, we can grow at these levels and beyond. I'm not gonna give a specific number in terms of how much Sportster constitutes the amount of growth, but just based on historical numbers of Sportsters that have sold and, you know, projected number of Sprint, you know, we believe that a significant portion of the growth will come from there. In addition to that, this concept of de-contented or blank canvas motorcycles that we referenced in the presentation is something our dealers have been asking for.

Jochen Zeitz

It does 2 things. Number 1 is it leverages existing platforms and powertrains that we have and provides more accessibility across Touring and Softail, which is extremely exciting. I'll remind everybody that some of these things where in Q4 we took action with things like our Solo introduction, they're already working. Some of the retail success that we saw in Q1, we've effectuated in these plans. I'm very enthusiastic about growth in both cruising and Touring with a more distributed and accessible portfolio of motorcycles. Sportster is a, is a big part of it. You know, given what's sold historically in Sportster, I'm quite confident.

Jochen Zeitz

What's happening in the used marketplace on Sportster, if you look up in some of the used market channels, it's extremely exciting to see residuals maintain, and it's difficult to get your hands on an 883 right now, which means there's a real need.

James Hardiman

That's great color.

Jonathan Root

Yeah, James.

James Hardiman

Thanks, Jochen Zeitz, and good luck.

Jonathan Root

James-

James Hardiman

Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

Jonathan Root

The one piece that I would add too is, as you refer back to what was in the strategy deck, there's a page in there that talks through the multi-year view of motorcycle and the ancillary revenue streams. As you listen to Arty talk through changes to the portfolio, some of the kind of early wins that we've been seeing with Solo models and some of the benefits that our price point focus is beginning to drive, that obviously has showed up in the first quarter from a retail standpoint. Inside of Q1, we've demonstrated the benefit to the approach that has been laid out. From an overall strategy standpoint, as we think through a life cycle and lifetime view, we can really envision people moving through the portfolio.

Jonathan Root

We can see the benefit that accrues to both Harley-Davidson and our dealers that aligns with what Jochen Zeitz talked through, and that's what gives us so much confidence in where we're going with the midterm targets and what's been laid out there.

James Hardiman

Thank you both. Good luck, guys.

Jonathan Root

Thanks.

Jochen Zeitz

Thanks, James.

Operator

Thanks for your questions. Our next question is from the line of Joseph Altobello with Raymond James. Your line is live.

Joseph Altobello

Thanks. Hey, guys. Good morning. Couple questions on the category expansion here. You know, you talked about Sportster, talked about Sprint. It sounds like those are, you know, smaller bikes. Are there other sort of subcategories that you're looking to expand into as well, you know, just beyond smaller CC engines? You know, second question, there's a reason why Sportster was discontinued, right? It was hard to make money. How has the economics of that bike changed? Thanks.

Jochen Zeitz

Great question, Joe. Thank you. Let me take the second one first. Our team has done an extraordinary job over the last couple of years working on this project. And we have the cost at a place that we're extremely comfortable against the expected MSRP that we referenced. More importantly is this enterprise profitability model that has been just a fantastic way for us to communicate with our dealers. When you think about the value that a motorcycle like Sportster brings to bear, it's very exciting when you look at the parts and accessories relevancy and opportunity. When you look at the service revenue that it brings through our dealerships, when you look at the used market that it feeds and maintains such strong residual values.

Jochen Zeitz

We're comfortable with the profitability of the motorcycle itself. However, we're extremely excited about how it juices the economics for the overall enterprise. To your first question as it relates to other additions inside the portfolio, you can expect to see, and the slide in the materials that references some of the current holes in the portfolio, those are examples of where our dealers via our riders have specifically asked for motorcycles from us that they expect from us and have gotten in the past. Some of these include maybe a little bit more content and many of them include less content. Once again, within existing families, and with existing platforms and powertrains, and I can't give much more detail than that.

Jochen Zeitz

I will share one tease with you, which you may have seen on social media, which you can expect from us to continue to do, and that's to get feedback from riders. At the Mama Tried Motorcycle Show here in Milwaukee, subsequently at Daytona, and then the MotoGP race in Austin, we teased a modern expression of our iconic Cafe Racer, and it's gotten extraordinary buzz and feedback from our riding community. I think that would be the type of motorcycle that is still, you know, large in terms of, you know, large displacement powertrain that you can expect us to get feedback from riders and, you know, you might see that from us in the market. We're very excited about the response to it.

Joseph Altobello

It's very helpful, Jochen Zeitz. If I could just quickly follow up on that. You know, the U.S. market for you has, you know, outpaced international for quite some time. Is the Sportster, is the, you know, the Sprint part of that strategy to grow your international business?

Jochen Zeitz

The Sportster is number 1 request from global dealers. If you walked into our dealership in Shanghai, if you walked into our dealership in Louisville, Kentucky, if you walked into a dealership in Frankfurt, Germany, and you asked the dealer or a sales team lead in those dealerships, 'What can, what can Harley-Davidson do for you?' You would hear, 'Bring back the Sportster.' Yes, but it is, it's global truth in terms of the enthusiasm around that bike.

Joseph Altobello

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

Thanks for your questions. Our next question is from the line of Andrew Didora with Bank of America. Your line is live.

Andrew Didora

Hey, good morning, everyone, and thanks for taking the questions. Just kind of change gears a little bit onto HDFS. Jonathan, the $125 million-$150 million op income target. I guess, you know, what kind of I know the business has changed here. I guess, what kind of receivables balance do you kind of anticipate growing to, you know, over, you know, through that timeframe? Then more importantly, just the revenue breakdown of HDFS. You know, how should we think about maybe just interest income contribution versus the more kind of fee-based services income as the segment grows?

Jonathan Root

Okay. Hey, Andrew Didora. Thank you for your question. I'll start with a little session that we put out a couple of weeks ago. On HDFS that really walked through that business, the different revenue streams of that business in a little bit more detail than obviously what we've covered here in earnings. That's probably a good refresher in terms of where that business goes as we move forward and what we're seeing. Obviously from a revenue stream perspective in terms of where we are, you know, we did at the end of last year sell off the back book as we've covered. Then on a go-forward basis, we continue to service those loans.

Jonathan Root

Important that we are continuing to make sure that we are retaining the customer focus, in, on the interaction. A lot that we think we can do as we think through how we move those customers through the portfolio, over time in the way that we're marketing to them. On a near-term basis, we obviously will make sure that for any originations that we have from this point going forward, we retain a third of those originations on our balance sheet, and then two-thirds we have the ability to sell off to our partners. We continue to service all of those loans. Over time, the fee income associated with servicing is something that continues to grow. We also retain the revenue streams fully relative to protection products.

Jonathan Root

We also retain the revenue streams fully, relative to card products and what we do from a card perspective. We also fully retain everything from a wholesale and commercial loan standpoint. Dial in or tune in to the recording that's available on our IR website that'll walk through that in more detail. A couple of other pieces that I would call out from an HDFS standpoint, we're really pleased with what we're seeing on our managed annualized retail credit losses. We have a page inside of the Q1 deck that highlights the year-over-year-over-year improvement in credit losses. Pretty excited that we have Q1 2026 kind of back below where we were not only in Q1 of 2025, but Q1 of 2024.

Jonathan Root

Overall, I think the dynamics of the business are performing pretty well. We obviously have provided the $125-$150 guide with the viewpoint that that is a more capital-light model versus the way that we've run historically. While the operating income is at a different level, we're really excited about the return that that generates for our shareholders and obviously frees up a lot of capital for us to remain committed to the shareholder priorities that we put out there from a capital allocation standpoint. Hope that helped.

Andrew Didora

Okay. Thank you. I know, Jonathan, you mentioned in your prepared remarks, like, interested in opportunistic M&A. Just curious kind of what could that entail? Is that more on manufacturing capability or brand side? Just curious there. Thank you.

Jochen Zeitz

Andrew, it's Artie. I think we would look at any M&A as something that would accelerate the core areas of growth that we've laid out in the strategy. Anything that could drive dealer profitability would certainly be of interest. Parts and accessories would certainly be on the table. It, you know, it was listed as the third thing right now, so it's not a top priority for us. We do want to call out that anything that would make us stronger and allow us to drive the strategy faster, we would consider.

Operator

Thanks for your questions. Our next question is from the line of Alexander Potter with Morgan Stanley. Your line is live.

Molly Baum

Hi. Thanks so much for taking our question. I kind of wanted to ask maybe 1 or 2 about, you know, the affordability dynamics right now for your customers. You made a comment in the prepared remarks about how many buyers aren't requiring heavy or don't require heavy promotion to convert. Can you maybe talk about elasticity for motorcycle buyers at present and what you were seeing from a promotional standpoint in 1Q and maybe even in right after you know, cleared through some of the heavy inventory levels? Just how you're thinking about affordability more broadly in the current environment and going forward. Thanks.

Jochen Zeitz

Thanks, Alexander. On affordability, I really look at it as accessibility, so it's certainly price is a part of it, but also meeting riders where they're at and filling their needs with our portfolio. When we look at Q1, you know, we were pleased certainly with how the promotions restored the dealer network to healthier inventory levels, and that was focused on model year 2025 Touring. We were also pleased with motorcycle sales that weren't promoted. It demonstrated to us in some of the, you know, maybe more modest tweaks we made with the 2026 launch in action in Q4 and going forward, having more options available to riders is important. Certainly is price, but also features and benefits. The phrase I'm using internally is we've had too many of too few models on dealer floors.

Jochen Zeitz

And by using and leveraging existing powertrain, existing platforms, we can have a much broader assortment of motorcycles to present across, you know, certainly Sprint and Sportster are good examples, but even within legacy cruising and Touring. What excites me about this is we're gonna be more nimble as it relates to promotional activity. If you think about the promotions in Q1, we had a challenge. We actioned it on model year '25 Touring. Going forward, we will have more diversity within the Touring lineup where we can be a bit more surgical and segmented on which motorcycles we may have to promote at various points in time and maintain healthier margins on the, on the balance, so to speak. It's something dealers have asked for, and we're gonna be delivering on that as part of our go-forward plans.

Molly Baum

Great. Maybe if I could ask one follow-up on the dealer profitability piece. You had talked a little bit about last quarter about some immediate changes you made with the fuel facility model adjustments, changes to e-commerce strategy. Can you kind of talk about how much of the, you know, doubling profitability by 2026, doubling again by 2029, how much of that is, you know, kind of improving the cost base, getting excess inventory out of the system, versus how much is structural from these, you know, strategy changes that you're making?

Jochen Zeitz

What we put in place in Q4 and what is in place currently, we believe is, you know, appropriate. You know, there's always the chance that there's, you know, small adjustments that we would align with our dealers on, but the Back to the Bricks plan and the targets that we've put forward do not contemplate a change in the, you know, structural arrangement with our dealers. You know, the e-commerce strategy that we made tweaks to in Q4 is part of the go-forward plans. We instituted a Marketing Development Fund which is in place right now. There's no structural change, no material structural change that's contemplated in driving the profitability. It's inventory, it's the right motorcycles at the right time with a rider-centric portfolio.

Jochen Zeitz

Certainly leaning into this marketing campaign we think is going to pay a lot of dividends.

Molly Baum

Got it. Thanks so much.

Jonathan Root

Yeah, Alexander Potter, I think the piece.

Molly Baum

Oh, sorry.

Jonathan Root

I think, Alexander Potter, the piece that's worth adding on the dealer profitability side of the equation too, is that obviously volume and throughput makes a pretty meaningful change in their bottom line. As we think through again, going back to the strategy and the page that we built out that really helps you envision all of the different revenue streams for both Harley-Davidson and our dealers, that's a pretty important page to envision the way that we're running the business as we move forward. Through that, the targets that we have on the mid-single-digit growth rates that you're seeing are really important for us and the benefits that accrue to our shareholders, and they are equally important for our dealers.

Jonathan Root

In addition, as you see us really double down on our growth surrounding P&A, not only do you see P&A benefits from an overall revenue and margin standpoint, but inside of the dealer side of the equation, it does also drive some really nice service growth. We're pretty excited about the way that we actually get our dealers back to something that we think is a much healthier and much better way to run their business.

Molly Baum

Got it. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you for your questions. Our next question is from the line of Tristan M. Thomas-Martin with BMO Capital Markets. Your line is live.

Tristan M. Thomas-Martin

Hey, good morning. I just want to kind of circle back to two questions that were asked previously. First, just in terms of the Sprint, my understanding is it's being built overseas, so how do kind of recent tariff changes regarding imports potentially impact pricing on that? Could you provide a breakdown of your medium-term retail CAGR, like your expectations for U.S. versus global markets?

Jochen Zeitz

Sure, Tristan. I guess I'll take both of those. As it relates to Sprint, we're finalizing the specific production plans. We did call out that Sportster, you know, U.S. Sportsters will be made in York, in our York, Pennsylvania facility. Obviously, we're pleased with, you know, the revised guidance that we put forward on tariffs for 2026. We do contemplate based on current expectations that we have some favorability in tariffs going into 2027 across the portfolio. I'm sorry, the second question was?

Tristan M. Thomas-Martin

Just

Jochen Zeitz

The CAGR. In terms of CAGR on U.S. versus international, we're not breaking that out. I will tell you that there's not a material change, you know, U.S. versus international, primarily because the motorcycles that we're talking about here and the rebalancing of the portfolio and filling in the holes are similar globally. We generally have the same portfolio around the world right now. As I mentioned, the dealer request and enthusiasm around Sportster in particular and motorcycles that are, you know, raw, blank canvas and allow for, you know, parts and accessories, genuine parts and accessories, additions to them, are globally wanted. We don't have a, I'd say, a material difference in the growth trajectory, you know, by market.

Tristan M. Thomas-Martin

Okay. Just one follow-up on kind of the aftermarket plan. I'm not sure if I'm reading between the lines correctly, but is there gonna be more focus on dealership kinda aftermarket add-ons versus factory aftermarket add or kinda factory add-ons? Thanks.

Jochen Zeitz

You mean in, you mean parts and accessories in our dealerships and it's in customization at the dealership level? Yes. What we're saying is we expect to have more motorcycles in the portfolio that are maybe more approachable from a price perspective and have less accessories on them. Our dealerships would be equipped with the P&A to personalize them for the riders, which is consistent with what the brand has done over, you know, many, many years. It's frankly leaning into a legacy strength where P&A has maybe not been as a focus for us with many of our motorcycles, in particular large Touring motorcycles, having a fair amount of content.

Tristan M. Thomas-Martin

Great. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you for your question. Our next question is from the line of David MacGregor with Longbow Research. Your line is live.

David MacGregor

Yes. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I guess the question is on LiveWire and just, you know, the role that LiveWire plays in this product portfolio envision. Just, you know, if it is sort of something you are considering staying with, just how we should think taking maybe that three to five-year outlook you'd expressed earlier, just, you know, with the use of cash for that business over the next three to five years. Thanks.

Jochen Zeitz

Yes, David. Thank you. This is Jochen Zeitz. The first thing I'll say is, you know, we're excited about the LiveWire team's efforts this year and the pending launch of the Honcho bike, which is, you know, I think an interesting and exciting addition to the portfolio, and we'll be monitoring that closely rest of the year to see how that does. We're very excited to see how that comes to market. I'll repeat what I shared on previous earnings as it relates to LiveWire. You know, we funded the loan in the back half of 2025. You know, that's our outstanding capital commitment, and we don't have intentions to fund the business, you know, directly from Harley-Davidson at this point in time.

David MacGregor

Is there a way that you can influence demand? I mean, you're talking about creating a higher level of interest back to James' questions with demographics, and I'm just wondering if there's a way that you can shape demand as well in the electric front, or you feel like there's steps you could take to maybe create a higher level of engagement.

Jochen Zeitz

Yeah. We're focused on this Back to the Bricks plan and driving dealer profitability and getting the portfolio in a place that we, you know, we think riders, you know, want from us. Karim and his team are focused on the electric side of the house at this time.

David MacGregor

Okay. Thanks very much.

Operator

Thanks for your question.

Jonathan Root

Yeah. David, one piece that I would add, David, on the kind of demand influence is that through what you would have seen with what we delivered in Q1, we certainly believe that when we get the right alignment on marketing promo and kind of how we run that, we can drive traffic to dealers, and we can drive higher close rates. You heard Arty talk about, I think one piece that always sticks with me from an Arty perspective is too many of too few, you heard him reference that earlier on the call today.

Jonathan Root

When we think through where the portfolio is going and some of the pieces that we have the ability to drive, we're really excited as the product portfolio becomes a little bit more nuanced in terms of what we're putting into market. We can lean into a lot of the strategies that we've really demonstrated some good success with and do that in a much more targeted way. Pretty excited about where we're going from the midterm as we think about both what we've demonstrated within Q4 of last year, Q1 of this year, and then with what we've lined up from a strategy perspective, where we're going. Excited to see the kind of demonstrated ability that we've put in market so far and how that aligns with the strategy that's built out.

David MacGregor

Do you have goals in place for building dealer support for LiveWire?

Jonathan Root

The LiveWire team is certainly working on their approach to how they manage their dealer relationship.

David MacGregor

Got it. Thanks very much. Good luck.

Operator

Thanks for your questions. Our next question is from the line of Brendan Rolle with Loop Capital. Your line is live.

Brendan Rolle

Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. First, just on, the dealer profitability improvement, would you be able to size the headwind from maybe a more standardized rebate program to HDMC margins?

Jochen Zeitz

Thanks, Brendan Rolle. You're talking about H-D Membership and the holdback?

Brendan Rolle

Yeah. I think under the previous management team, they had kind of made the rebate program or rewards program a little more difficult to pull back some margin into the company. It seems like, you know, that's going back out to dealers, and I was just wondering if you're able to size the headwind, if any, to HDFS or HDMC margins.

Jochen Zeitz

Yeah. I would characterize the headwind as modest over a medium-term period. The, the previous holdback was variable, so it was based on sales targets, and this is fixed. I wouldn't characterize it as, it's not the primary driver of the profitability improvements that we're experiencing or forecasting. It's a small amount on a year-over-year basis, but it's not the primary amount. The larger impact, which I, you know, heard consistently from our North American dealers both in the fall and again on a recent roadshow, was the predictability was so important.

Jochen Zeitz

Predictability of having the fixed holdback was critical in terms of staffing levels, being able to project cash flow throughout the year, and I think it's just an example of us understanding our dealers' businesses and, you know, respecting what they need to run their business well and service our riders well. I'm pleased where we are, and where we are today, is precisely what we've modeled going forward.

Brendan Rolle

Okay, great. Just one last one. On your U.S. dealer network, how do you feel about the current size of the network? Obviously, there's been a lot of dealer consolidation over the last few years. Do you feel like you have the dealer network's at the right size, or are you going to continue to, you know, kind of, I guess, move away from inefficient dealers and, you know, I guess not shrink the dealer network, but, you know, maybe make it stronger? Thank you.

Jochen Zeitz

We're always looking for ways to make the dealer network stronger, and we love the fact that we have individual, you know, maybe smaller dealer owners, dealer principals in certain markets. We also feel privileged to have some larger entities that own groups of dealerships. I think the strength of our brand is a balance of both. One of the amazing things about Harley-Davidson dealerships is we have dealerships along these iconic rides, where families in some cases have owned these dealerships for decades, in some cases, you know, 70, 80, 90 years. We are extremely proud of that.

Jochen Zeitz

At the same time we had, you know, recent, you know, acquirers in the market where some of our largest and some of our most profitable dealer owners are getting bigger in the system. I love them all. We're committed to having a healthy dealer network. We're not precious about size. We're precious about dealers that are enthusiastic about our brand and serve riders well.

Brendan Rolle

Great. Thank you.

Operator

Thanks for your question. Ladies and gentlemen, we have time for a final question from the line of Jaime M. Katz with Morningstar. Your line is live.

Jaime M. Katz

Thanks for squeezing me in. I will make it quick. I guess most of the profit improvement that you guys have, a lot of it looks like it's coming from leverage within SG&A. Can you talk a little bit more specifically about the top opportunities that are being targeted for cost reduction this year? Just so we can get a better idea of where that low-hanging fruit is coming from. Thanks.

Jochen Zeitz

Hi, Jamie. Thank you for your question. It's obviously a balance of some headcount and then obviously some non-headcount related costs, and then also some cost of goods related, you know, actions. Our teams have done a fantastic job in Q1 at identifying areas. We've obviously done a significant amount of both competitive benchmarking, but also what's the right thing for Harley-Davidson and ensuring that we can grow going forward. We're not gonna provide, you know, detail beyond that at this time, but we're very confident in the targets that we put forward and, you know, specifically the $150 million plus that we've earmarked for 2027 and beyond.

Jaime M. Katz

Okay. Just quickly, I know there was some gross margin impact by pricing and mix. Is there any way to think about how those are trending over the remainder of the year, just sort of from where you stand today? Thank you.

Jochen Zeitz

Yeah. Jaime, I'll let Jonathan take that one.

Jonathan Root

Okay. Thank you, Jamie. As we look at pricing and mix, if and sort of compare that to Q1, you know, relative stability, I think, as we look through Q2, Q3, and Q4. You did hear in the Q1 financial comments a little bit more information relative to timing. Take a listen to that call in terms of how we talked about year-over-year quarters and what you see there. From an overall pricing mix perspective, pretty flat to kind of a little bit of favorability in the balance of the year. As we look at what's coming, we're pretty excited about what we're gonna be introducing, and you'll see some of the impacts from that.

Jonathan Root

Please take a listen to what we talked about from a timing standpoint. That'll be important as you're thinking through what our trajectory is gonna look like for the year. Then you will see a little bit less of an impact from incentive-related activity. As we've talked about, we were pretty aggressive in what we did from Q1, from a Q1 standpoint. We're really pleased with where we landed dealer inventory, we think that really set us up for a very successful balance of the year. Hopefully that sort of helps address your question.

Jaime M. Katz

Thanks.

Jonathan Root

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you for your questions. Ladies and gentlemen, that will close down our Q&A session for today. Jochen Zeitz, I would like to turn it back over to you for any closing comments.

Jochen Zeitz

Well, thank you everybody. Appreciate you participating in today's call, and hopefully you can tell how enthusiastic our team is, and I am in particular about our path forward. We look forward to updating on our progress, and we'll talk to you next earnings. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you.

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-04-24

LiveWire Group, Inc. To Report First Quarter 2026 Results on May 5, 2026

Business Wire

Webcast Conference Call Scheduled for 8 a.m. CT MILWAUKEE, April 23, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LiveWire Group, Inc. (NYSE: LVWR) will release its first quarter financial results before market hours Tuesday, May 5, 2026. The public is invited to attend Harley-Davidson, Inc.’s audio webcast from 8-9:30 a.m. CT where discussion of LiveWire will be limited to financial results and updates to LiveWire’s outlook. Webcast participants should log-on and register at least 10 minutes prior to the start time and can access the slide presentation here: https://investor.livewire.com/news-events-1/events/default.aspx. A replay of the audio webcast will be available approximately two hours after the call concludes. Company Background LiveWire is majority owned by Harley-Davidson, Inc. and has a dedicated focus on the electric motorcycle sector. www.livewire.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260423918773/en/ Contacts Media Contact: Jenni Coats (414) 343-7902 Financial Contact: Shawn Collins (414) 343-8002

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-02-11

LiveWire Group Inc (LVWR) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Navigating Challenges and Seizing ...

GuruFocus.com
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Consolidated Revenue (Q4 2025): Down 28%. HDMC Revenue (Q4 2025): Decreased by 10% to $379 million. HDFS Revenue (Q4 2025): Down 59%. Consolidated Operating Income (Q4 2025): Loss of $361 million. HDMC Operating Loss (Q4 2025): $260 million. HDFS Operating Loss (Q4 2025): $82 million. LiveWire Operating Loss (Q4 2025): $18 million. Earnings Per Share (Q4 2025): Loss of $2.44. Full-Year 2025 Revenue: $4.5 billion, down 14%. Full-Year 2025 Operating Income: $387 million. Full-Year 2025 Earnings Per Share: $2.78. North American Retail Sales (Q4 2025): Up 5%. International Retail Sales (Q4 2025): Down 10%. Global Retail Sales (Q4 2025): Down 1%. Dealer Inventory Reduction (Q4 2025): Down 17% globally. HDMC Gross Margin (Full-Year 2025): 24.2%. Tariff Costs (Full-Year 2025): $67 million. Operating Cash Flow (Full-Year 2025): $569 million. Cash and Cash Equivalents (End of 2025): $3.1 billion. Share Repurchase (Full-Year 2025): $347 million. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Signs with LVWR. Is LVWR fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: February 10, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) has made significant progress in reducing dealer inventory, with a 17% global reduction, exceeding their 10% target. The company is focusing on improving dealer profitability and aligning wholesale activity with retail demand, which has shown early positive results. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) is committed to enhancing financial flexibility and has renegotiated a term loan, reducing the principal to $75 million. The company is taking steps to improve its e-commerce strategy to drive incremental dealership traffic and support motorcycle sales. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) has seen a 61% increase in electric motorcycle units and a 7% increase in STACYC units in Q4 2025, indicating strong growth in these segments. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) reported a consolidated operating loss of $361 million in Q4 2025, compared to a loss of $193 million in 2024. The company faces challenges with macroeconomic conditions impacting international retail sales, particularly in EMEA, which declined by 24% in Q4 2025. Tariff costs have increased, with a $67 million impact in 2025, and are expected to rise furth…Read full document

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Consolidated Revenue (Q4 2025): Down 28%. HDMC Revenue (Q4 2025): Decreased by 10% to $379 million. HDFS Revenue (Q4 2025): Down 59%. Consolidated Operating Income (Q4 2025): Loss of $361 million. HDMC Operating Loss (Q4 2025): $260 million. HDFS Operating Loss (Q4 2025): $82 million. LiveWire Operating Loss (Q4 2025): $18 million. Earnings Per Share (Q4 2025): Loss of $2.44. Full-Year 2025 Revenue: $4.5 billion, down 14%. Full-Year 2025 Operating Income: $387 million. Full-Year 2025 Earnings Per Share: $2.78. North American Retail Sales (Q4 2025): Up 5%. International Retail Sales (Q4 2025): Down 10%. Global Retail Sales (Q4 2025): Down 1%. Dealer Inventory Reduction (Q4 2025): Down 17% globally. HDMC Gross Margin (Full-Year 2025): 24.2%. Tariff Costs (Full-Year 2025): $67 million. Operating Cash Flow (Full-Year 2025): $569 million. Cash and Cash Equivalents (End of 2025): $3.1 billion. Share Repurchase (Full-Year 2025): $347 million. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Signs with LVWR. Is LVWR fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: February 10, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) has made significant progress in reducing dealer inventory, with a 17% global reduction, exceeding their 10% target. The company is focusing on improving dealer profitability and aligning wholesale activity with retail demand, which has shown early positive results. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) is committed to enhancing financial flexibility and has renegotiated a term loan, reducing the principal to $75 million. The company is taking steps to improve its e-commerce strategy to drive incremental dealership traffic and support motorcycle sales. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) has seen a 61% increase in electric motorcycle units and a 7% increase in STACYC units in Q4 2025, indicating strong growth in these segments. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) reported a consolidated operating loss of $361 million in Q4 2025, compared to a loss of $193 million in 2024. The company faces challenges with macroeconomic conditions impacting international retail sales, particularly in EMEA, which declined by 24% in Q4 2025. Tariff costs have increased, with a $67 million impact in 2025, and are expected to rise further in 2026, posing a financial burden. LiveWire Group Inc (NYSE:LVWR) anticipates operating margins to be under pressure in the near term due to production running below wholesale levels. The company's e-commerce strategy has historically not delivered intended results, creating customer confusion and impacting dealer economics. Q: On HDFS, the expectation was that HDFS operating income could be at least $100 million, but the guidance is about half of that. Can you explain the math behind HDFS and its long-term profitability? A: Jonathan Root, Chairman of the Board: We expect HDFS to generate $45 million to $60 million in 2026. Long-term, we anticipate HDFS will make approximately triple the midpoint of this guidance. Short-term impacts include cautious volume outlook and lower wholesale assets due to significant dealer inventory reductions. Q: Regarding wholesale guidance, how should we think about shipment growth in 2026 and inventory levels? A: Jonathan Root, Chairman of the Board: Q1 2026 wholesale shipments will likely be down compared to the prior year, with an increase in early Q2 to position dealers for the season. Q3 may see a slight decrease, but Q4 will have a significant increase. Artie Starrs, CEO, emphasized maintaining healthy inventory levels, focusing on selling through Touring inventory. Q: What is the expectation for global retail sales, particularly in the US, and how does this relate to LiveWire's losses? A: Arthur Starrs, CEO: We extended a $75 million loan to LiveWire, and they are seeking other capital sources. Jonathan Root, Chairman of the Board, noted enthusiasm for new Touring models and Trikes, expecting some retail sales upside in 2026. Q: Can you elaborate on the $150 million annual run rate savings expected in 2027 and beyond? A: Arthur Starrs, CEO: The savings will not include LiveWire and will be realized in the motor company and HDFS. We expect to start realizing some savings in the back half of this year, with full annual savings starting in 2027. Q: How do you view the used versus new pricing spread, and will promotional activities affect this? A: Jonathan Root, Chairman of the Board: Current promotions are reducing the gap between new and used motorcycles, offering a strong value proposition. Used values have stabilized and improved, which is encouraging for consumer affordability. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-02-11

LiveWire Group, Inc. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Summary

Moby
Management is prioritizing the restoration of dealer profitability and trust, acknowledging that the current dealer network health is uneven and requires a reset of mutual accountability. Performance in Q4 was intentionally impacted by aggressive actions to reduce elevated dealer inventory, particularly North American touring models, through supply reductions and targeted demand-side interventions. The company is shifting its e-commerce strategy back to a dealership-centric model to eliminate customer confusion and prevent excessive discounting that previously pressured dealer economics. Management identified that past portfolio and pricing choices limited brand reach; they are now widening the funnel by focusing on product accessibility and price points aligned with current economic realities. Operational deleverage is expected in the near term as production is intentionally kept below wholesale levels to ensure a healthy, balanced retail inventory environment. A renewed focus on the Parts & Accessories business is underway to meet rider demand for individual expression and customization, which management admits was neglected in recent years. The corporate culture is being re-centered in Milwaukee to improve decision-making speed and accountability, with the leadership team returning to the Juneau Avenue headquarters. Management views 2026 as a transition year focused on stabilizing the business and finalizing a new strategic plan to be announced in May. The company anticipates at least $150 million in annual run-rate savings starting in 2027, following a rigorous review of corporate overhead and manufacturing capacity. Guidance for 2026 assumes a one-to-one relationship between retail and wholesale units, with shipments expected to be more back-loaded toward the second half of the year. Financial outlook includes a headwind of $75 million to $105 million from new or increased tariffs in 2026, which are expected to be applied more uniformly throughout the year. HDFS is transitioning to a capital-light, derisked business model that is expected to deliver higher Return on Equity (ROE) over time as the asset base rebuilds. The HDFS transaction with KKR and PIMCO resulted in $73 million of discrete liability management costs in Q4 to retire existing indebtedness. LiveWire's term loan was renegotiated and reduced to $75 million, with the subsidiary now seeking i…Read full document

Management is prioritizing the restoration of dealer profitability and trust, acknowledging that the current dealer network health is uneven and requires a reset of mutual accountability. Performance in Q4 was intentionally impacted by aggressive actions to reduce elevated dealer inventory, particularly North American touring models, through supply reductions and targeted demand-side interventions. The company is shifting its e-commerce strategy back to a dealership-centric model to eliminate customer confusion and prevent excessive discounting that previously pressured dealer economics. Management identified that past portfolio and pricing choices limited brand reach; they are now widening the funnel by focusing on product accessibility and price points aligned with current economic realities. Operational deleverage is expected in the near term as production is intentionally kept below wholesale levels to ensure a healthy, balanced retail inventory environment. A renewed focus on the Parts & Accessories business is underway to meet rider demand for individual expression and customization, which management admits was neglected in recent years. The corporate culture is being re-centered in Milwaukee to improve decision-making speed and accountability, with the leadership team returning to the Juneau Avenue headquarters. Management views 2026 as a transition year focused on stabilizing the business and finalizing a new strategic plan to be announced in May. The company anticipates at least $150 million in annual run-rate savings starting in 2027, following a rigorous review of corporate overhead and manufacturing capacity. Guidance for 2026 assumes a one-to-one relationship between retail and wholesale units, with shipments expected to be more back-loaded toward the second half of the year. Financial outlook includes a headwind of $75 million to $105 million from new or increased tariffs in 2026, which are expected to be applied more uniformly throughout the year. HDFS is transitioning to a capital-light, derisked business model that is expected to deliver higher Return on Equity (ROE) over time as the asset base rebuilds. The HDFS transaction with KKR and PIMCO resulted in $73 million of discrete liability management costs in Q4 to retire existing indebtedness. LiveWire's term loan was renegotiated and reduced to $75 million, with the subsidiary now seeking independent capital sources to finance future operations. A $200 million accelerated share repurchase agreement was initiated in Q4, though future buybacks will be measured until the strategic plan is finalized. The company plans to retire a €700 million medium-term note in Q2 2026 as part of its capital allocation strategy. Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management expects HDFS operating income to eventually triple from the 2026 midpoint guidance as retail assets flow back onto the balance sheet over the next 2-3 years. Current lower earnings reflect the immediate impact of the 'back book' sale and lower wholesale assets due to disciplined dealer inventory management. Shipments will be down in Q1 to avoid burdening dealers with winter inventory, followed by a 'pop' in Q2 to support the start of the riding season. The second half of 2026 will see more material shipment growth compared to the very measured levels seen in late 2025. Growth in the touring segment is expected to be driven by the sell-down of 2025 models and high dealer enthusiasm for the new 'Limited' and redesigned Trike models. Management is being 'careful and considered' with CVO (Custom Vehicle Operations) shipments to ensure those premium models maintain their brand prestige. Used values for core 'Softail' models have stabilized or improved, which management views as a positive indicator of brand desire. Strong used market performance for discontinued or altered portfolio segments is actively informing future product development and innovation. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here.

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-02-10

LiveWire Group, Inc. Reports 2025 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Financial Results

Business Wire
MILWAUKEE, February 10, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LiveWire Group, Inc. ("LiveWire" or the "Company") (NYSE: LVWR) today reported fourth quarter and full year 2025 results. "We saw continued momentum in the fourth quarter, ending 2025 in the number one position in U.S. electric motorcycle on-road retail sales1 and delivered another company record-setting quarter. Consolidated revenue units increased year over year with over 22,000 units sold, a 16 percent increase over 2024, coupled with a prime focus on improving gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2025 along with a 44 percent improvement in free cash flow in 2025. We will look to continue this positive momentum into 2026 as we focus on enhancing profitability and launching the S4 Honcho™ products," said Karim Donnez, CEO, LiveWire. 2025 Highlights and Financial Results Reduced net cash used by operating activities by 43% driving a 44% improvement in free cash flow as compared to 2024. Increased market share to 70% of retail sales in the U.S. electric motorcycle 50+horsepower on-road EV segment1. Continued expansion into five new markets in Europe, including Poland, Portugal, Finland, Belgium and Luxembourg. Continued development of the S4 Honcho™ with production targeted to start in Spring 2026. Consolidated operating loss decreased by $34.9 million, or 32%, from 2024 primarily driven by a decrease in consolidated selling, administrative and engineering expense. Launched an At-The-Market offering to raise up to $50 million in additional capital through share issuance pursuant to a $100 million shelf registration statement. Fourth Quarter 2025 Summary of Results Electric Motorcycle unit sales increased 61% over fourth quarter 2024, with revenue increasing 10%. STACYC unit sales increased 8% over fourth quarter 2024 with revenue increasing 4%. Gross profit improvement in the fourth quarter of 2025 driving a decrease in consolidated operating loss of $7.5 million, or 30%, from fourth quarter of 2024. Total Company Highlights The Company’s consolidated net loss was $17.6 million for the fourth quarter 2025 as compared to $22.8 million in the same period prior year driven by the segment results noted below, offset by a decrease of $1.3 million of non-operating income related to the change in fair value of the outstanding warrants as of December 31, 2025 and a decrease of $0.7 million in interest income as compare…Read full document

MILWAUKEE, February 10, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LiveWire Group, Inc. ("LiveWire" or the "Company") (NYSE: LVWR) today reported fourth quarter and full year 2025 results. "We saw continued momentum in the fourth quarter, ending 2025 in the number one position in U.S. electric motorcycle on-road retail sales1 and delivered another company record-setting quarter. Consolidated revenue units increased year over year with over 22,000 units sold, a 16 percent increase over 2024, coupled with a prime focus on improving gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2025 along with a 44 percent improvement in free cash flow in 2025. We will look to continue this positive momentum into 2026 as we focus on enhancing profitability and launching the S4 Honcho™ products," said Karim Donnez, CEO, LiveWire. 2025 Highlights and Financial Results Reduced net cash used by operating activities by 43% driving a 44% improvement in free cash flow as compared to 2024. Increased market share to 70% of retail sales in the U.S. electric motorcycle 50+horsepower on-road EV segment1. Continued expansion into five new markets in Europe, including Poland, Portugal, Finland, Belgium and Luxembourg. Continued development of the S4 Honcho™ with production targeted to start in Spring 2026. Consolidated operating loss decreased by $34.9 million, or 32%, from 2024 primarily driven by a decrease in consolidated selling, administrative and engineering expense. Launched an At-The-Market offering to raise up to $50 million in additional capital through share issuance pursuant to a $100 million shelf registration statement. Fourth Quarter 2025 Summary of Results Electric Motorcycle unit sales increased 61% over fourth quarter 2024, with revenue increasing 10%. STACYC unit sales increased 8% over fourth quarter 2024 with revenue increasing 4%. Gross profit improvement in the fourth quarter of 2025 driving a decrease in consolidated operating loss of $7.5 million, or 30%, from fourth quarter of 2024. Total Company Highlights The Company’s consolidated net loss was $17.6 million for the fourth quarter 2025 as compared to $22.8 million in the same period prior year driven by the segment results noted below, offset by a decrease of $1.3 million of non-operating income related to the change in fair value of the outstanding warrants as of December 31, 2025 and a decrease of $0.7 million in interest income as compared to prior year. The Company’s consolidated net loss was $75.1 million for the year ended 2025 as compared to $93.9 million in prior year driven by the segment results noted below, offset by a decrease of $11.1 million of non-operating income related to the change in fair value of the outstanding warrants as of December 31, 2025 and a decrease of $4.5 million in interest income as compared to prior year. LiveWire Group, Inc. is comprised of two business segments: STACYC – focused on the sale of electric balance bikes for kids, electric bikes, and related products Electric Motorcycles – focused on the sale of electric motorcycles and related products STACYC STACYC revenue increased in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to 2024 by $0.2 million primarily driven by higher volumes. Operating income in the fourth quarter of 2025 resulted from higher margins on product mix and reduced selling, administrative, and engineering expense compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. STACYC revenue increased in the full year 2025 compared to 2024 by $1.3 million primarily driven by higher volumes. Operating loss decreased by $3.2 million resulting from higher gross margin primarily due to lower fulfillment costs and reduced selling, administrative, and engineering expense compared to 2024 primarily due to lower marketing spend. Electric Motorcycles Electric Motorcycles unit sales increased by 61% compared to the prior year same quarter resulting in an increase in revenue of $0.3 million. Operating loss decreased by $6.6 million primarily driven by a $4.4 million decrease in cost of sales primarily due to lower purchases resulting in lower net realizable value adjustments and a $1.9 million reduction in selling, administrative and engineering expense from cost reduction activities, including decreases in people costs and other spending, compared to the same quarter in the prior year. Electric Motorcycles unit sales increased by 7% for the full year 2025 compared to the prior year. This increase in volume was offset by increased incentives implemented to drive demand in the market, resulting in a decrease in revenue of $2.3 million compared to the prior year. Operating loss decreased by $31.7 million primarily driven by a $25.0 million reduction in selling, administrative and engineering expense from cost reduction activities, including decreases in people costs and other spending, compared to the prior year. Financial guidance For the full year 2026, the Company expects: LiveWire Group operating loss of $70 to $80 million Webcast The public is invited to attend the Harley-Davidson, Inc. audio webcast from 8-9 a.m. CST where LiveWire’s financial results, developments in the business and updates to the Company’s outlook will be shared. The webcast login can be accessed at https://investor.livewire.com/news-events-1/events/default.aspx. The audio replay will be available by approximately 10:00 a.m. CST. About LiveWire LiveWire has a dedicated focus on the electric motorcycle sector. LiveWire’s majority shareholder is Harley-Davidson, Inc. LiveWire comes from the lineage of Harley-Davidson and is capitalizing on a decade of its learnings in the EV sector. With a dedicated focus on EV, LiveWire plans to develop the technology of the future and to invest in the capabilities needed to lead the transformation of motorcycling. www.livewire.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The Company intends that certain matters discussed in this press release are "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements concerning possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events or results of operations, and any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "is on track," "may," "might," "objective," "ongoing," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "remain committed," "should," "target," "will" and "would," or similar words or phrases, or the negatives of those words or phrases, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties and assumptions described in prior public filings titled "Risk Factors." These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks, including, without limitation, the following: our history of losses and expectation to incur significant expenses and continuing losses for the foreseeable future; Harley-Davidson, Inc. ("H-D") making decisions for its overall benefit that could negatively impact our overall business; our relationship with H-D and its impact on our other business relationships; our ability to obtain funding for our operations and manage costs; our future capital requirements and sources and uses of cash; our limited operating history, the rollout of our business and the timing of expected business milestones, including our ability to develop and manufacture electric vehicles of sufficient quality and appeal to customers on schedule and on a large scale; our financial and business performance, including financial projections and business metrics and any underlying assumptions thereunder; changes in our strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects and plans, including our ability to effectively execute the Company’s relocation and streamlined headcount plan within expected costs and time and our ability to realize the expected savings on an ongoing annual basis; our ability to manage and predict the impact of global trade issues and changes in and uncertainties with respect to trade and export regulations, trade policies and sanctions, tariffs, international trade disputes, particularly those relating to China and Taiwan, may have on the Company's ability to sell products domestically and internationally, and the cost of raw materials and components, including tariffs recently imposed or that may be imposed by the U.S. on foreign goods or other tariffs recently imposed or that may be imposed by foreign countries on U.S. goods; retail partners being unwilling to participate in our go-to-market business model or their inability to establish or maintain relationships with customers for our electric vehicles; our ability to attract and retain a large number of customers; challenges we face as a pioneer into the highly-competitive and rapidly evolving electric vehicle industry; our operational and financial risks if we fail to effectively and appropriately separate the LiveWire business from the H-D business; our ability to leverage contract manufacturers, including H-D and Kwang Yang Motor Co., Ltd., a Taiwanese company ("KYMCO") , to contract manufacture our electric vehicles; potential delays in the design, manufacture, financing, regulatory approval, launch and delivery of our electric vehicles; building out our supply chain, including our dependency on our existing suppliers and our ability to source suppliers, in each case many of which are single-sourced or limited-source suppliers, for our critical components such as batteries and semiconductor chips; global trade issues and changes in and uncertainties with respect to trade and export regulations, trade policies, sanctions, tariffs, international trade disputes, particularly those relating to China or Taiwan, geopolitical events and related actions that may occur between mainland China and Taiwan; our ability to rely on third-party and public charging networks; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; our business, expansion plans and opportunities, including our ability to scale our operations and manage our future growth effectively; the effects on our future business of competition, the pace and depth of electric vehicle adoption generally and our ability to achieve planned competitive advantages with respect to our electric vehicles and products, including with respect to reliability, safety and efficiency; our business and H-D’s business overlapping and being perceived as competitors; our inability to maintain a strong relationship with H-D or to resolve favorably any disputes that may arise between us and H-D; our dependency on H-D for a number of services, including services relating to quality and safety testing. If those service arrangements terminate, it may require significant investment for us to build our own safety and testing facilities, or we may be required to obtain such services from another third-party at increased costs; any decision by us to electrify H-D products, or the products of any other company; our expectations regarding our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection and not infringe on the rights of others; potential harm caused by misappropriation of our data and compromises in cybersecurity; changes in laws, regulatory requirements, governmental incentives and fuel and energy prices; the impact of health epidemics on our business, the other risks we face and the actions we may take in response thereto; litigation, regulatory proceedings, complaints, product liability claims and/or adverse publicity; and the possibility that we may be adversely affected by other economic, business and/or competitive factors. Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified and some of which are beyond our control, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur, and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. Some of these risks and uncertainties may in the future be amplified by new risk factors and uncertainties that may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties. As a result of these factors, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this press release will prove to be accurate. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances, or otherwise. You should read this earnings release completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. LiveWire Group, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Operations (In thousands, except per share amounts) LiveWire Group, Inc. Consolidated Balance Sheets (In thousands) LiveWire Group, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (In thousands) LiveWire Group, Inc. Free Cash Flow We use free cash flow, which is a non-GAAP liquidity measure, to supplement our cash used by operating activities as presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"). We believe free cash flow is useful in evaluating our liquidity, as it is similar to measures widely used by certain investors, securities analysts and other interested parties as a supplemental measure of performance and liquidity. We also use this measure internally to establish forecasts, budgets and operational goals to manage and monitor our liquidity. This non-GAAP financial measure may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies, have limitations as analytical tools, and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our operating results as reported in accordance with GAAP. We define free cash flow as net cash used by operating activities, excluding cash paid for ongoing costs related to the Company’s At-The-Market ("ATM") program which results in financing cash inflows, less capital expenditures. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260210003393/en/ Contacts Media Contact: Jenni Coats (414) 343-7902 Financial Contact: Shawn Collins (414) 343-8002

As of 2026-07-25 • Updated weeklySource: Earnings sourceIngestion runbook