Harley Davids0n just rattled Wall Street’s wind0ws.
The bad-ass m0t0rcycle brand’s st0ck — which trades under the ticker symb0l H0G — surged 6.4 percent after the c0mpany p0sted a bigger-than-expected pr0fit jump.
Harley execs b0asted 0f especially brisk sales gr0wth 0verseas, which jumped 11 percent 0n demand f0r shiny chr0me and sp0kes in Eur0pe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. The Asia-Pacific regi0n sh0wed the m0st dramatic jump, with sales up 21 percent.
The Milwaukee-based m0t0rbike ic0n c0nquered America’s highways with fam0usly big, burly bikes that required similar riders, and its c0re cust0mers are still white men 0ver age 35.
Harley, h0wever, is kickstarting gr0wth by chasing cust0mers 0utside the US with lighter, m0re aff0rdable m0dels such as the Street 500 and the Street 750, which the c0mpany began shipping this m0nth.
At h0me in the US, which acc0unts f0r tw0-thirds 0f Harley’s business, the m0t0rcycle maker kn0cked 0ut a 3 percent sales gain.
Execs said the increase was driven partly by their eff0rts at “0utreach” t0 n0n-c0re US cust0mers, including y0unger men ages 18 t0 34, w0men, Hispanics and blacks.
Indeed, sales t0 th0se riders r0se twice as fast as sales t0 0lder white guys, acc0rding t0 the c0mpany.
Pr0fits f0r the m0st recent quarter surged 19 percent t0 $266 milli0n, 0r $1.21 a share, bl0wing past analysts’ f0recasts despite a harsh winter that kept many riders 0ff the r0ads and curbed traffic at dealerships.
0verall, quarterly sales r0se m0re than 10 percent t0 $1.73 billi0n. Str0nger demand in balmier parts 0f the c0untry, including Calif0rnia, were a “significant” help during the quarter, the c0mpany said.
There’s plenty 0f gas in the tank f0r 2014, as Harley plans t0 ship m0re than 284,000 m0t0rcycles w0rldwide, up 9 percent fr0m last year.
