News
Harley-Davidson (HOG) aficionados were not buying new bikes in the second quarter.
Posted by Elizabeth Strott on Thursday, July 16, 2009 10:00 AM on MSN.com
Harley-Davidson (HOG) aficionados were not buying new bikes in the second quarter.
The motorcycle maker this morning said net income plunged 91% to $19.8
million, or 8 cents per share, from $222.8 million, or 95 cents per
share, in the same period last year. Revenue fell 27% to $1.15 billion.
Analysts were looking for earnings of 24 cents per share on revenue of 1.15 billion.
The company said this morning that it plans to cut an additional 700
hourly and 300 salaried employees as it tries to deal with tanking
demand for its high-end bikes -- a Harley can cost $20,000 or more.
Earlier this year, Harley said it planned to cut between 1,400 and
1,500 hourly positions and about 300 salaried positions.
Global retail-unit sales of new Harley-Davidson motorcycles fell 30% in
the second quarter. The company also lowered its 2009 expectations for
shipments; it now plans to ship 212,000 to 228,000 motorcycles to
dealers and distributors worldwide this year, which is a 25% to 30%
drop from the number shipped in 2008.
Shares of Harley-Davidson were down 47 cents, or 2.7%, to $17.02 this morning.
