POLARIS101707
On the homepage
Vikings
Out There
Artcetera
Television
Polaris surprises as ATV, snowmobile sales rise
ATV and snowmobile sales rose during the third quarter to help Polaris Industries Inc. post better-than-expected quarterly earnings Tuesday and raise its guidance for the year.
Print this story
E-mail this story
Save to del.icio.us
Share on Facebook
Share on Digg
Minnesota business by the numbers
See Minnesota's top earning companies, CEOs and non-profits
More from Business
ATV and snowmobile sales rose during the third quarter to help Polaris Industries Inc. post better-than-expected quarterly earnings Tuesday and raise its guidance for the year.
Polaris shares rose $2.43, or 4.9 percent, to $51.66 on the New York Stock Exchange.
In a surprising turnaround from recent industry doldrums caused by a lack of snow and a somewhat flooded ATV market, Polaris' sales jumped 11 percent during the quarter ended Sept. 30 to $544 million. However, higher taxes, along with beefed-up marketing and research and development costs aimed at promoting and creating new products, snipped earnings.
Net income from continuing operations fell 8 percent to $39.1 million, or $1.07 a share, but was still a nickel better than financial analysts expected. Including discontinued items, net income was $38.8 million, or $1.06 per share, down from $42.5 million, or $1.03 per share, during the third quarter of 2006.
Officials of the Medina-based ATV, snowmobile and motorcycle maker said that efforts to sell dealers' inventories before shipping new orders were panning out nicely.
Quarterly sales for Polaris' largest division, ATVs, rose 15 percent to $353 million. CEO Tom Tiller said the company's new Ranger RZR model was selling well, with demand outpacing supply.
Snowmobile sales rose 5 percent to $91.7 million. Victory motorcycle sales declined 17 percent to $21.4 million, while parts and garments sales rose 13 percent to $77.6 million.
The company raised its sales and earnings guidance for the year. Sales now are expected to grow by 5 to 6 percent over 2006 and earnings from continuing operations are expected to increase 12 to 14 percent and reach $3.05 to $3.10 a share for the full year.
Polaris officials will join the governor's trade mission to India next week.
DEE DEPASS
Recent Business stories
How the poll on debt stress was conducted - October 16, 2007
How the poll on debt stress was conducted - The Associated Press-GfK Poll on debt, stress and holiday spending was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media from Nov. 5-9, 2009. It was based on landline and cell phone telephone interviews with a nationally representative random sample of 1,006 adults. Interviews were conducted with 806 respondents on landline telephones and 200 on cellular phones. More
Blog: Patent Pending
Lights out at U energy conference. Irony police notified.
Just as Lawrence Kazmerski, a top official at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, was about to give the keynote address at the University of Minnesota's annual E3 conference at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, the lights went out, bathing the audience in darkness and a deep sense of irony.
Comment on this story | Be the first to comment | Hide reader comments