WGO

Welcome to the Winnebago Industries second quarter fiscal 2026 financial results conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. Please be advised that today's conference call is being recorded. I would now like to hand the call over to Joan Ondala, Vice President, Treasury, and Investor Relations. Ms. Ondola, please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our fiscal 2026 second quarter results. This call is being broadcast live on our website at investor.wgo.net, and a replay of the call will be available on our website later today. The news release with our second quarter results was issued and posted to our website earlier this morning. Please note that the earnings slide deck that follows along with our prepared remarks is also available in the investor section of our website under quarterly results. Turning to slide 2. Certain statements made during today's call, conference call regarding Winnebago Industries and its operations may be considered forward-looking statements under securities laws.

The company cautions you that forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and are inherently uncertain, and a number of factors, many of which are beyond the company's control, could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. These factors are identified in our SEC filing, which we encourage you to read. In addition, on today's call, management will refer to GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. The reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP measures are available in our earnings press release. Please turn to slide three. Hosting today's call are Michael Happe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Winnebago Industries, and Bryan Hughes, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Michael will begin with an overview of our second quarter performance, as well as a forward view of the market.

Bryan will discuss the associated drivers of our financial results and our fiscal year 2026 guidance. Michael will conclude our prepared remarks, and then management will be happy to take your questions. With that, please turn to slide four as I hand the call over to Michael.

Thank you, Jo-Ann, and good morning, everyone. Winnebago Industries delivered a solid second quarter, reflecting focused execution on our overarching enterprise strategies and our fiscal year 2026 first half objectives. Despite a challenging market environment, our teams performed with discipline, protecting profitability, managing controllable costs, and advancing the product and operational priorities that matter most to our long-term competitive positions in the RV and marine industries. Across our portfolio of premium differentiated brands, we have built a broad and durable outdoor recreation platform that spans multiple customer segments, price points, and lifestyle use cases. That breadth is increasingly valuable in a more selective demand environment and positions us well to compete for profitable share as demand conditions improve in the future.

We are introducing meaningful new products across our business lineups, especially recently in the motorhome RV segment within the traditional C category, with technological differentiation and targeted focus on affordability and value accessibility to our premium brands. We are also being deliberate about where we invest and grow. Our emphasis on driving share in higher value segments such as Class A diesel, Class C diesel, and the growing Super C category reflects our strategic focus on retail dollar and profit reach through resilient premium categories. That discipline is evident in our results. Even as unit share has fluctuated in certain industry segments, our RV retail dollar share has remained resilient. On the Winnebago-branded motorhome business, we have made considerable progress in the restoration of this flagship line through the first half of fiscal 2026.

The team is on its plan through the first six months, with much more traction planned in the back half of the year. While several initiatives are still in initial stages and are expected to build and become more apparent over coming quarters, the prospects for this business in the future are definitely improving. The progress there really reflects the same Winnebago Industries enterprise strategies we are applying every day across our portfolio. Empowering best talent, building relevant premium brands and winning products, elevating the total customer experience, expanding digital capabilities and connections, and driving portfolio synergy and excellence. On the towable RV side, our wholesale share reflects deliberate efforts to reinvigorate our Winnebago towables business with recent new products and revitalize several critical Grand Design products attacking the meat of the market.

We have leaned into models like Access within the Winnebago brand and Grand Design's Transcend line, gaining important shelf space in supportive dealer showrooms, while also moderating some highly promotional product segments to support inventory health and overall channel stability. We will discuss our marine businesses in a few minutes, but I would like to highlight a brand that does not receive enough attention at times, and that is Lithionics, our mobile portable power line. This 2023 acquired platform continues to be an increasingly vital part of what differentiates our enterprise profile. Focused on delivering professional grade, safe, portable, reliable battery power solutions, Lithionics strengthens our competitive differentiation today and supports future profitable growth as we expand the technology beyond RV into marine and work vehicle applications.

Our overall financial performance through the first half of fiscal 2026 reflects the strides we have made to deleverage our balance sheet, strengthen cash flow, and reduce controllable costs. We have urgency in these areas to position ourselves as soon as possible to accelerate our capital allocation priorities for the future benefit of this company. Our teams have done an excellent job since last April 2025 managing tariff headwinds and intentionally improving FP&A leverage. Bryan Hughes will walk through those numbers in more detail shortly. Turning to slide five. Retail activity across the second quarter remained aligned with a seasonally slower retail period of the year, but also reflected a challenged near term consumer sentiment environment, with comps lower than the same period a year ago.

Additionally, retail both at the dealers but also at certain consumer retail shows through the January, February months were impacted by adverse weather events in key regions. Dealers continue to manage inventory cautiously, keeping ordering and stocking closely aligned with retail conditions. Wholesale activity has remained disciplined, with shipments also moderating throughout the seasonally slower period. The RV Industry Association Spring RoadSigns Outlook calls for modest industry shipment growth in calendar 2026, with total volumes forecast to increase by approximately 2% year-over-year. That outlook continues to assume a first half of calendar year 2026 weighted towards seasonal softness, with improvement expected in the back half of the year as retail demand stabilizes. It also assumes mixed performance across segments, including resilience in fifth wheels and a more gradual recovery in certain motorized categories.

Our own internal RV wholesale planning remains intentionally more cautious than this outlook, with a focus on retail-driven ordering patterns and disciplined production pacing as conditions evolve. As we move into the critical spring and summer selling seasons, we expect retail activity to build, and we are well-positioned to respond with product as dealers desire. Inventory management remains a priority. During the second quarter, RV inventory turns reached approximately 1.5 times, exhibiting normal seasonal shipping patterns as well as increased dealer demand tied to recent Winnebago Towables and Grand Design motorized product introductions. Dealers are supporting these new business strategies and building inventory positions where they believe in future retail share attainment opportunities.

While overall inventory turns at the end of Q2 versus backward retail were slightly lower than what we would like to see at this time of year, we are very much focused on continuing to be a good partner to our dealers going forward in pursuing a two times inventory turn goal at some point in calendar 2026 as seasonal retail accelerates. Turning to slide 6. At the Florida RV SuperShow in January, we showcased how our product portfolio is evolving around changing RV ownership and travel behaviors across Winnebago, Grand Design RV, and Newmar, the products we featured from Winnebago Sunflyer Class C to Grand Design's Solitude fifth wheel and Lineage motorhome platforms to our Newmar Freedom Aire luxury Class C introduction, all of these emphasize livability, ease of ownership, and differentiated features, serving both first-time buyers and experienced owners.

Strategically, the unveiling of new products just mentioned reinforce the direction of our product roadmap, a deliberate focus on products that remain relevant across market conditions, support dealer inventory discipline, and contribute to brand strength over time. Our approach to innovation is intentional, emphasizing mix, execution, and returns. On slide seven. Our Barletta Boats business continues to hold the number 3 position in U.S. aluminum pontoons with a 9.1% retail unit market share over the trailing 12 months through January. The 3-month FSI unit retail market share is running even higher in the lower double digits range. Barletta's brand positioning and product mix remains consistent, supporting even higher retail dollar share versus the number 1 and number 2 competitors. However, to serve an even wider audience across the recreational boating space, we have expanded the Barletta lineup with the introduction of the Sanza series of products.

Starting at $49,995 for a tri-two model, well-equipped with a 150-horsepower engine, a cover, and in-floor storage. The Sanza extends the Barletta experience to new buyers looking for affordable access to premium brands while maintaining the trusted craftsmanship, comfort, and industry-leading customer service support that define Barletta great. Moving to slide 8. Barletta also captured its fourth consecutive Discover Boating Minneapolis Boat Show Innovation Award, recognizing our leadership in bringing industry-first ride stabilization technology to the pontoon segment through our partnership with Seakeeper Ride. This recognition underscores the team's sustained focus on meaningful innovation that elevates the on-water experience for our owners. That same commitment on customer-centered innovation is evident within our Chris-Craft brand as well, where we recently introduced the all-new Launch 27.

The Launch 27 is a reimagined premium dayboat that blends the brand's timeless design and unparalleled fit and finish with modern technology, enhanced comfort, and standard Seakeeper Ride stabilization. In January, the Launch 27 earned a 2026 Innovation Award at the Discover Boating Miami Boat Show, highlighting its sleek hull design and advanced technology. Importantly, this award reinforces Chris-Craft's leadership in thoughtful, owner-focused innovation. Product quality and innovation remain core to our strategy, and these marine awards validate that conviction. Both Barletta and Chris-Craft have also been recognized with the National Marine Manufacturers Association's Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Awards, reflecting consistently high owner satisfaction across our marine portfolio. Moving to slide 9. In January, we released our seventh annual corporate responsibility report, outlining how we continue to integrate sustainability, safety, and governance into the way we run the business. Two highlights from our most recent report.

One, we have made meaningful improvements in workplace safety in the last decade and again in fiscal 2025. Two, we have now reduced our absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by about 15% versus our 2020 baseline. Both are clear indicators of disciplined execution embedded in our day-to-day operations across the organization. Now, let me turn the call over to Bryan Hughes for the financial review. Bryan?

Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. Starting with our consolidated results on slide 11. As Mike noted, our results continue to demonstrate disciplined execution across a diversified portfolio, even as retail demand across RV and marine remains uneven. Consolidated net revenues increased 6% year over year as a strong performance in the motorhome RV segment more than offset decreases in towable RV and marine. Growth in the motorhome RV segment was driven by Grand Design RV's continued expansion, with strong growth in Winnebago and Newmar brands contributing as well. Gross profit increased due to growth in the top line and when combined with SG&A reductions due to our cost savings initiatives, operating income improved 51% from the second quarter of fiscal 2025, resulting in adjusted EPS of $0.27, 42% higher than last year.

Turning to our segment results, beginning with Towable RV on slide 12. Net revenues declined by 9%, primarily attributable to a shift in product mix toward lower price point models and lower unit volume, partially offset by selective price adjustments. Segment operating income margin of 4.2% for the second quarter of fiscal 2026 was down 20 basis points from prior year, primarily due to volume deleverage and product mix, largely offset by selective price adjustments and cost containment initiatives. Through the first half of fiscal 2026, segment operating income is up 3% versus the same period last year on a roughly comparable 3% increase in net revenues. Our dealer inventory increase in the Towable RV segment is related to the new Thrive in the Winnebago brand and the continued success of the Transcend in the Grand Design lineup.

When combined, these two lines explain the entire increase in the Towable RV segment's dealer inventory when compared to the prior year. Moving to slide 13. Our Motorhome RV segment reflected a net revenue increase of 29%, with volume momentum across our Newmar, Winnebago, and Grand Design motorized brands. Net revenues are running 21% ahead of fiscal 2025 through the first half of the year. Operating income performance in this segment primarily reflects improved volume leverage, with additional support from targeted costs and operating efficiency initiatives. Segment operating income margin improved 270 basis points year-over-year to 2.4% in Q2. The same step change in profitability is evident in our first half segment performance, resulting in an operating income margin of 2.6% compared with negative 0.8% in the first half of fiscal 2025.

Turning to slide 14. Our Marine segment results reflect the industry operating environment we anticipated, with retail demand remaining muted and dealers maintaining a cautious approach to inventory and wholesale activity. Segment net revenues decreased by 3%, primarily due to lower unit volume and product mix, partially offset by selective price adjustments. Operating income margin of 3.7% was down 300 basis points from last year's fiscal second quarter due to higher warranty expense and volume deleverage. Through the first half of fiscal 2026, Marine segment operating income margin was 5.3% versus 6.7% in the same period last year. Revenue was flat year-over-year. Turning to slide 15. We continue to make tangible progress on deleveraging actions consistent with the priorities we've outlined over the past several quarters.

A key proof point was our February redemption of $100 million of 6.25% senior secured notes due 2028, funded through cash generation over the past several quarters. This action demonstrates our confidence in the durability of our cash flow, even as market conditions remain inconsistent. The redemption meaningfully reduces gross debt and contributes to reduced interest expense, reinforcing the discipline underlying our capital allocation framework. Importantly, it also preserves financial flexibility as we enter the seasonally stronger back half of the fiscal year. We continue to maintain healthy cash balances and cash flow from operations improved year-over-year to the first half of 2026, driven primarily by improved earnings, with working capital performance providing additional favorability. Turning to guidance on slide 17.

For fiscal 2026, we are maintaining our full year revenue and adjusted EPS outlook while updating reported EPS with the details as follows. Consolidated net revenues in the range of $2.8 billion-$3.0 billion. Reported earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.50-$2.20, compared with $1.40-$2.10 previously. The increase versus the prior range reflects updated assumptions related to items excluded from adjusted EPS. Finally, we continue to expect adjusted earnings per diluted share in the range of $2.10-$2.80. Segment performance continues to reflect a mixed demand environment. In Towable RVs, we expect revenues to be softer than fiscal 2025 while remaining focused on maintaining operating margins.

In Motorhome RV, we expect both revenue growth and improved operating margins compared to the prior year. In Marine, retail demand remains soft, and as a result, we expect full year net revenues to be below fiscal 2025 levels. Looking to the third quarter, we expect continued strength in Motorhome RV to be offset by softer conditions in Towable RV and Marine, resulting in consolidated revenue that is flat to down versus prior year levels. On that revenue base, we expect adjusted EBITDA and adjusted earnings per diluted share to be roughly in line with the prior year. Our outlook remains subject to macroeconomic conditions, including the direction and severity of recent geopolitical developments and their potential impact on commodity prices.

With that context in mind, our fiscal 2026 outlook remains grounded in actions within our control. We continue to focus on disciplined execution and advancing our strategic initiatives, which we believe position us well to deliver on our financial objectives. Now please turn to slide 19 as I hand the call back to Mike for closing comments. Mike?

Thank you, Brian. Winnebago Industries begins the second half of fiscal 2026 on solid footing to drive sustained earnings improvement, a view that holds even as the industry recovery continues to be stubborn. Over the last several quarters, going back to the second half of fiscal 2025, we have been quite intentional about the business improvement changes we are making. We have broadened our portfolio across key segments and price points. We have strengthened the balance sheet and improved financial flexibility. We have made deliberate decisions to better align our fixed cost base and variable expenses, especially within our RV segments, to reflect the reality of today's demand environment. Our teams have proactively navigated tariff headwinds and unexpected cost pressures with agility and diligence, and I am especially pleased in our ability to continue executing the controllables and mitigating risk effectively as conditions evolve.

We are again doing what we said we would do. As we move through fiscal 2026, our focus is clear. Execute what we can control, protect profitability while balancing retail share in our target segments, strengthen our financial flexibility, and protect and bolster our ability to invest in our people, brands, products, and operational excellence initiatives that we believe will drive sustainable and superior returns in better days ahead. It is worth stepping back and recognizing the broader context. Outdoor recreation remains a large, resilient, and economically meaningful sector, contributing more than $1 trillion in direct and indirect economic output and supporting millions of jobs here in the United States, according to the newly released data from the Department of Commerce. Participation in outdoor recreation remains strong and is an integral part of our customers' physical and mental wellness.

While our specific industries are operating in a more measured demand environment amid a dynamic macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop, the long-term fundamentals of the category, and candidly, Winnebago Industries, continue to support sustained engagement and investment over time. Our lifestyle is strong, and Winnebago Industries is strong as well. We are mindful of the evolving situation in the Middle East, and while it is too early to assess any direct impact on our businesses, we are monitoring developments closely and their potential impact on consumer demand and input costs. Notwithstanding that backdrop, our confidence for the future comes from the progress we have already demonstrated and from our team's continued focus on our five core enterprise strategies that define how we operate and compete. Now, Brian and I are happy to answer your questions this morning. Operator, please open the line for the Q&A session.

To ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from Joseph Altobello with Raymond James. Your line is open.

Thanks. Hey, guys. Good morning. First question on inventory. You know, obviously you ended this quarter at 1.5 turns. The target is 2 turns by the end of this calendar year. So how much of that is coming from, you know, you guys undershipping demand, you know, over the balance of the year? And how much of that is what you believe will be improved retail?

Good morning, Joe. This is Mike. It'll be a combination of several factors. Certainly we anticipate seasonal retail momentum to take place as it does every spring and summer. From an industry wholesale estimate standpoint, as you probably are aware from our comments, we are a little bit on the conservative side. Our assumptions on both industry wholesale shipments for the remainder of our fiscal year and the calendar year and embedded in our guidance is in line with us improving turns to the level that you just cited.

Bryan Hughes, in his prepared comments, also mentioned in the towable RV segment that the significant majority, if not the entire, driver behind towable RV turns at the present time is the support of the Winnebago-branded towable line that we're revamping, primarily the Thrive and Access product that is shipping into dealers, many of whom are new to that brand. As well as support for Grand Design's Transcend model. We anticipate that pre-prime retail season load in will diminish a bit from a shipment standpoint, and the natural course of retail and unit replenishment will take over. We do anticipate our inventory turns on the RV side to improve in both quarter three and quarter four and throughout the rest of calendar 2026.

Got it. Very helpful. To follow up on that, you mentioned, you know, obviously the geopolitical events. I know it is early, but any sort of discernible impact on consumer demand here in March from the conflict with Iran?

Joe, we cannot draw any straight line to any short-term, you know, market performance factors, or even input operational costs into our business, quite yet from the conflict overseas. We are monitoring that situation very carefully. We certainly understand that that is weighing on the minds of consumers and dealers as they contemplate, obviously, investments in the lifestyle for consumers and in inventory from a dealer standpoint. But we have not seen any adverse effects quite yet from the conflict.

Perfect. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Alice Wycklendt with Baird. Your line is open.

Yeah, good morning, gentlemen. Thanks for taking my questions. Did want to dig in a little bit more and see if you could share on the impact of weather or the cadence of trends over the course of the quarter and maybe what you've seen since quarter end as some of those weather impacts have eased.

Yeah. Good morning, Alice. Well, let me talk about the second quarter retail environment that we witnessed. We did have some good retail shows, both on the RV and marine side. In fact, our largest retail shows happened to be some of our best shows. But apart from those large shows, the rest of the retail show season was candidly in line with general industry retail conditions throughout that particular period. For us, the months of December, January, and February. We did see some weather events in the months of January and February that did have an impact on specifically some of the retail shows, but in some cases, good portions geographically of the U.S. that hampered retail for, you know, a week at a time. These are generally our lowest retail selling months of the calendar year.

We don't anticipate that weather will continue to be a theme for the remainder of our fiscal year or calendar year 2026. We'll see how that goes. Concerning retail in the month of March, I would say we are generally seeing a retail environment in March that is healthier than what we saw in the months of January and February. Internally, we have three weeks of retail collected already from this particular month, and I would say two of those three weeks were certainly better. The third week of those three weeks was, you know, similar. Net positive in terms of the general direction of retail in March versus what we had seen in January and February.

We're obviously monitoring that every day, every week, and hope we continue to see that mini trend continue here in the near future.

Great. Obviously a lot to unpack with the Iran conflict, but maybe we can just isolate gas prices and talk about how the RV market has typically reacted to higher prices, at least in the past, and maybe what you'd expect here.

Yeah, I think you would wanna break that topic or question down in two ways. One, how does it impact people who are already in the lifestyle and own RVs? Generally, the manner in which we see an impact there is that people don't necessarily take less trips. They just travel less distance to experience the RV lifestyle. You know, we believe that the lifestyle itself is healthy from an engagement standpoint, and we do not anticipate people doing less camping, but they may go less far to do that camping.

Certainly, from a new product purchase standpoint for customers that are in the marketplace, the concern there is that the perceived affordability of the lifestyle is elevated because it costs more to fill up that fuel tank on either your towing vehicle if you're buying a towable or that motor home coach. We generally don't see as big of an impact on new purchases as you might expect when gas prices are elevated at the pump. These are generally planned purchases, often associated with life-changing events like retirements or kids getting older, bucket lists that need to be checked off. You know, we're not yet factoring in a significant decline on new product purchases yet.

We'll wanna see how long gas prices are elevated directly related to the Middle East conflict and discern whether the impact to consumers lasts. The last topic I do wanna mention is that there are some positives when some of these geopolitical events happen historically. There are times when Americans choose to travel differently. They may take less trips to Europe, they may take less cruises across international waters, and instead they turn to domestic road trips, which actually turns out to be a tailwind for us at times historically. Again, it's too early to come to a conclusion on any of the comments I just made. We are monitoring the situation carefully, but those are some of the opinions we have on possible dynamics and impacts.

Thanks, Mike. That's it for me.

Thank you. Our next question comes from James Hardiman with Citigroup. Your line is open.

Hi, this is Sean Wagner on for James. I guess just following up on the inventory. If you're targeting 2x turns at some point in calendar year 2026, is there any color you can give on where you expect towable and motor home turns to finish the fiscal year? Will you get close to 2x this fiscal year?

Sean, thank you for the question. We won't share specifically the, you know, the future projected breakdown by category. I can just tell you our business leaders have the same goals in mind. The turns performance of our portfolio varies by brand and business. And it also varies at times, as I mentioned earlier, by the introduction of new products, or new strategies. In macro, our intention and plan for the rest of the year, again, as included in our guidance assumptions, is to drive those field inventory turns back very close to 2.0, by the end of our fiscal year and certainly by the end of our calendar year. There can be things that aid or disrupt that, but that is certainly our intentions at the time.

I will take this opportunity to mention the quality of the inventory in the field as well. We track very carefully how much of our inventory is current model year, prior model year, and prior two model years. I can tell you know, from a positive standpoint that we have seen a significant improvement in aged inventory across our RV and marine portfolio, at the end of quarter two, fiscal 2026 versus the end of quarter two, fiscal 2025. The number of units on prior model year and prior two model years are meaningfully down, as we sit here today. The number of current model year units as a percentage of the whole is increased, which is a good thing because we want consumers looking at the very latest.

Often our sales allowance or sales support dollars for dealers are very targeted at aging inventory. The less aging inventory we have, we think we're in a better competitive position in the market, but we're also spending less dollars from an inefficiency standpoint to clear out that old inventory. Our teams are focused on it and that'll be part of the story as we talk about the quantity and the quality of field inventory going forward.

Okay. I guess on the topic of your unchanged guidance, I know you said it's too early to sort of draw any conclusions from the geopolitical events, but have your underlying interest rate assumptions within your guide changed at all based on the current macro environment? Can you remind us what those were?

Yeah, this is Brian. I think, as we all know, some of the interest rate expectations, including the reductions that were priced into the market previously, are easing, you know, and are turning the other direction. A lot of it, you know, it's too early to tell what the impact of the geopolitical events right now will be on oil prices, interest rates, labor market, and things of that nature. I would not say that we made a significant adjustment of any kind underneath our guidance that is anticipating an extremely different interest rate environment right now. It's just too early to tell on what direction things will go.

Okay. I guess if interest rates aren't cut this year or are even raised, let's say, does that drastically change your thinking for the industry and for the year?

No, I mean, that's one of the factors we would consider as we come forward with our range on the industry, you know. That would impact ultimately the outcome in all likelihood. That's why we have the range that we do from 315-345 thousand units of wholesale shipments.

Okay, fair enough. Thanks.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Charles Scholes with Truist. Your line is open.

Hi. Good morning. Thank you. With elevated gas and oil prices in the news, could you just give us an update on where you stand with progress with your eRV2 electric prototype? Thank you.

Patrick, good morning. Thank you for the question. We do not have a commercial strategy in place currently for an all-electric motor home vehicle. As you recall via your question several years ago, we were active with first the pilot of an all-electric Ford platform. We did in fact produce a very small number of those and engage a few dealers on consumer engagement around those.

We have made the decision, you know, more than a year ago now, to not proceed forward in the present environment with an all-electric motor home platform at this time. That was a combination of candidly, chassis partner feasibility on the right platform, combined with, you know, learnings from consumers about what was acceptable from a functional standpoint, but also a value standpoint in the market. At this time, we are not, you know, competing with any alternate power technologies from a propulsion standpoint, but as you know, we are very focused through our Lithionics brand on doing everything we can to play our part in the electrification of house power.

That is oftentimes the removal of the generators from the house platforms on an RV or a boat, and substitute that with the lithium battery power package. That really is our electrification strategy right now, the house power platform that we have in Lithionics.

Okay. Thank you. I'm all set.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Tristan Thomas-Martin with BMO Capital Markets. Your line is open.

Hey, good morning.

Good morning.

Mike, just a clarification question. When you said two of three weeks so far in March were better, is that relative to year-over-year or better than January and February?

From our perspective standpoint, the month of January and February were actually quite similar from a retail standpoint. I know the industry has not released February retail yet for RVs. We anticipate that when that information is released, that you'll see retail be very similar at the industry level to January. My comments around our internal Winnebago Industries RV and Marine retail for the month of March is that we have seen a net positive three-week trend as compared to the months of January and February, meaning March is better. Not quite where we'd like it to be ultimately, but certainly a better start to the early spring period than what we were seeing earlier.

I will tell you there are some bright spots in some of those early results, including our Winnebago towables brand, which we're very energized about. We've seen very strong early results on Winnebago towables in March that validate some of the dealer support we're getting and some of the new products that we've launched. Very early signs. You know, things can change from a volatility standpoint week to week based on you know, our reporting processes and the way that we capture retail. I think what I'm mentioning this morning is in line with a few of the RV dealer surveys that have happened by some of the sell-side here within the last couple weeks. Let's cross our fingers and hope that trend continues.

Hey, Tristan, I'll add to that. This is Brian. I think you're inquiring not about the absolutes so much as the growth rates year-over-year, and that's what Mike is referring to in March, that the year-over-year comps are showing some stability for those first three weeks.

Yeah, that's right. Okay. Not up year-over-year. Is that accurate based on your comments?

We don't, we won't share specific numbers, Tristan. They are improved versus January and February.

Okay. Just a question around Grand Design share trends in the quarter.

Mm-hmm.

They've been under some pressure.

Mm-hmm.

What's driving that, and then kind of how do you reverse that, specifically the towables then?

Yeah. We have seen some Grand Design unit retail share pressure in the last year. A good chunk of that comes from the intense competition we're seeing on fifth wheels in the market with several good competitors, both from a legacy standpoint, but also some of the newer competitors in the last four or five years. The team at Grand Design is very engaged in the fifth wheel segment. We've introduced the Omega frame, which we believe is one of the most durable, strongest frames now in the market. We recently came out with a composite leak-proof roof that is beginning to be rolled out across the Grand Design line, but beginning with, I believe, the Solitude line on the fifth wheel side.

We have partnered closely with many of our dealers on you know right-sizing the programmatic and promotional support around those fifth wheel models you know in the retail environment. We have seen less degradation of share on the travel trailer side. In fact, Grand Design over the last five years has generally been gaining share on travel trailers over an extended period of time. But we've seen a little bit of share dilution there as well primarily due to the emphasis on affordability and some of our competitors who have much higher capability in high volume, low differentiation mixed products. So we're probably battling affordability primarily on travel trailers. We're battling some competitive intensity on fifth wheels.

The team is working on brand strength, product strength, dealer improvements in terms of support just across the line. You know, I will tell you that we do have plans in the future to expand the Winnebago towables line into fifth wheel products at some point. We have not announced what that first product would be, nor the timing of that, but that is on the roadmap. We'll compete even differently in the future with two towable brands in some of these spaces, not just one primary large one. Thanks for the question.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Brett Jordan with Jefferies. Your line is open.

Hi, good morning, guys.

Good morning, Bret.

On the fifth wheel category, obviously it's a tough market from a share competition standpoint, is the broader category under similar pressure in the sense that you're talking about people looking for a lower price point Access RV?

Well, I think that theme, Bret, exists candidly, probably across the whole of the RV industry. You know, value, affordability. You know, people certainly are still shopping for premium brands, but looking for a sharper accessibility from a value standpoint to those brands. We are seeing some activity on fifth wheels around private labels with some of the larger retailers in the RV space. That is a strategy that is a little less mature than you see on the travel trailer side, but that is ramping up a bit. It's a combination of factors, I believe. You know, consumers looking for value, really good competition, dealers thinking about the category in a you know, evolving way as well.

Our teams will have to continue to adapt. I wanna make this point, though. Winnebago Industries is not the Grand Design fifth wheel company. Our share and opportunities to drive our business forward come from 9 different revenue streams within the company. Fifth wheels right now is just one of those 9. I am very pleased with the diversification and the breadth of Winnebago Industries and our ability to use certain parts of our portfolio that do have momentum, like Newmar, like Barletta, in lately here, like Winnebago Towables, to offset some of the softness we see from time to time in different parts of the portfolio. We've also been doing some work recently on unit share versus retail dollar share.

At our quarter three earnings call in June, we will unveil some of the data from some of that analysis. Our retail dollar share at an enterprise level, particularly for the RV industry, is very competitive, in fact much more resilient than our recent unit share. That comes from some of the great work that's happening in the motor home segment specifically, with new business launches like Grand Design Motorhome raising to 4% plus share here recently, after two years of being in the market. We're gonna be very focused. Don't get me wrong. We're gonna be very focused on addressing some of the share pressure that we're seeing on fifth wheels.

I can also assure our investors that we are going to be very focused on driving good news and positive momentum across the other eight revenue streams that we have in our portfolio as well. That is, I think, you know, a part of the secret sauce as to why we are maintaining our guidance for the back half of the year, because we believe that the whole is healthy enough to maintain a statement of confidence here this morning.

Okay. Then in marine, I think you called out warranty and volume deleverage as impacting margin. Could you sort of parse those two out? Is there anything that's extraordinary going on in the warranty side of Barletta?

No, nothing extraordinary, Bret. Not, like, a larger single event that caused us to do a recall or anything. It was just a few that aggregated into a higher current quarter warranty expense recognition. That, that's really the driver there.

Okay, great. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Noah Zatzkin with KeyBanc Capital Markets. Your line is open.

Hi, thanks for taking my questions. I guess first, could you kind of comment on the margin improvement initiatives in motor homes and provide an update there? Thanks.

Yeah, you know, we've talked about this in the past, Noah, that there are several things underway, and brand by brand, we are undertaking those initiatives. I'd say as we've said in past quarters, the Winnebago motorhome transition to profitability is probably longer in nature and did not have a significant impact in the current quarter, but we expect it to have improving impacts in the several quarters ahead of us. We are still enjoying the ramp-up of the Grand Design motorhome entry, and that entry has gone very well. Similarly, on the Newmar side, the margin enhancement in that business over the past several years and in the more recent quarters has continued to bear fruit. We're very pleased with that.

I would say in general, that's the storyline. We have further improvements we're expecting in the Winnebago motor home business as it relates to margins specifically. Some actions have already been taken, others are underway. Certainly important in that evolution on margins in the Winnebago brand is continued product introductions that demonstrate innovation, differentiation in the marketplace, and we look forward to those in coming quarters.

Thanks. Just maybe any updated thoughts on tariffs, and maybe the expected impact versus prior. I know everything's still fluid. Thanks.

Yeah, pretty fluid environment as you suggested there. I think the teams have done a very good job, I'll say, specific to the margin conversation. The teams have done a very good job of assessing the impact of tariffs, monitoring them very closely, quarter by quarter, month by month, mitigating the impacts with vendors as partners, and doing a very good job of minimizing the impact of tariffs. Then where necessary, pricing for those tariffs and making sure that, you know, the pricing matches the overall inflationary impacts. That is ongoing work. I'd say the recent decision by the Supreme Court on IEEPA to be offset in many respects by new tariffs in the Section 122 category are still being evaluated.

I do not expect that transition from IEEPA to Section 122 to have a material impact on our margin story, or on pricing. I think that they will largely offset each other, if not even be a little bit favorable. That too is something that we're monitoring very closely.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our final question comes from Mike Albanese with StoneX. Your line is open.

Yeah. Hey, good morning, guys. I know it can be difficult to discern amongst various, you know, macro factors, but any implications you're seeing from expected tax refunds within, you know, dealer traffic or lead generation, essentially setting the table for higher conversion into Q3, you know, particularly in regions where the soft cap was increased? Or really is that just too difficult to parse out from typical seasonality?

Yeah. Good question, Mike, and good morning. Thanks for that question. We do track, you know, through various sources some of the tax refund trends that are happening in that particular sort of season. It does appear that the size of tax refunds are in a positive way elevated for, you know, citizens and possible consumers versus a year ago. It is probably too early as those checks or deposits are arriving from a refund standpoint to understand if that will impact us materially. It certainly can't hurt, you know, as consumers claw back a few more dollars and decide what to do with that.

You know, as you know, there's a lot of noise in the environment in terms of elements weighing on consumers' mind from a sentiment standpoint, but also some of the inflationary pressures, some of which were mentioned on the call with possible gas price elevation. We'll see how that goes. We'll have a better idea here probably in the next 60-90 days. There have been times though, you know, with past policy legislation that has been tax friendly to consumers, where dealers have cited that consumers do have a little bit more breathing room to be able to throw at a down payment on a new RV or boat.

A little early to tell, but early signs in the tax season are positive from a refund size standpoint. We'll continue to monitor.

Thank you. That's good context. Hopefully a good one to end it on here, but since you decided to highlight Lithionics this morning, can you just provide more color on it as, you know, a competitive differentiator? You know, what's out there? Why is it better, I guess? Are you seeing that translate or can you attribute any share gains, you know, kind of directly to that, whether that be, you know, lot wins with dealers or resonating with the consumer, et cetera? Thanks, guys.

Yeah. Thank you for the question, and it is a good topic to end on. We acquired Lithionics in the middle of 2023. The reason we acquired Lithionics, there were multiple reasons, but one of which was that they were really and are really the gold standard in lithium battery packs, battery management systems. Since 2023, their penetration into the RV market has expanded. We have picked up new customers, including several of our OEM competitors. We have very good working relationships between Lithionics and several RV OEMs. We've expanded our product line significantly, from primarily battery pack systems and BMS to include other types of mobile power products. Battery starter generators, alternators, inverters, and the like.

We have also begun to certify some of our product catalog for use in the marine industry. There are similar applications for these types of products in the marine industry. We've begun to accelerate expansion of Lithionics business development into other categories, including work trucks and other specialty applications. There's also an aftermarket component to the Lithionics business. If you either have a different battery system or no battery system at all, you can work through a qualified installer to install a Lithionics system. They are safe, they are reliable, they are durable, they are constructed like very few other battery packs in the market are. The team just does business the right way.

The last thing I'll mention that should be, you know, of note to the investor community is the profitability on this small business from a yield standpoint is significantly higher than our finished goods business. It is a strategic technology vertical. Certainly some of the business we do is captive to our own brands. But the business we do on the outside comes at a fair, healthy margin that allows us to contribute back to enterprise profitability, but also reinvest in the Lithionics business. We view the blue ocean for Lithionics products as significant in the future. We'll stay very focused on being the quality supplier in that space and not the low-cost supplier. Reliability and safety are very valued by consumers around battery products.

Thank you for the question.

Awesome. Well said. Thanks, guys.

Thank you. This concludes the question and answer session. I would now like to turn it back to Joan Ondala for closing remarks.

Thank you all for joining us this morning. We look forward to keeping you all updated on our progress.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.