Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Gina Goetter: Good question. Good morning, David. This is Gina. So overall, I would say similar levels of cash flow as we head into 2023. So there’s nothing atypical. Obviously, in 2022 we had the LiveWire investment that we were making. We will not have that as we move into 2023. So I’d say similar levels overall. From a working capital standpoint, one of our big focus areas as we move into next year is just keeping our eye on that inventory number and making sure that we’re mindfully kind of reacting to and bringing that down as we move through the year. As we end the year, always keep in mind, right, we’re building inventory on our balance sheet as we end the fiscal year. That starts to bleed out through the first part of the year, both in terms of finished products €“ finished motorcycles as well as all of the apparel and licensing and P&A that go along with them.

So even though it looks high at the end of the year, that bleeds itself down through the first half.

David MacGregor: Good. Thank you.

Operator: The next question is from Gerrick Johnson with BMO Capital Markets. Your line is open.

Gerrick Johnson: Hey, good morning. I had a couple of product questions. First, the 350 bike, you mentioned about populated Riding Academy. Is that something that will be available for graduates to purchase when they do complete the course? And then on the CVOs , I know you’ve got one out now. I think in the past, you kind of launched them all at the same time, and that seems like a rolling rollout of the CVOs. Can you just explain or talk about the strategy behind the CVO launches?

Jochen Zeitz: Yes, Gerrick. So the 350 is not going to be available for purchase in North America. It’s exclusively for Riding Academy. As I said in our launch video, we have a few things still up our sleeve. But obviously, we’re very excited about the CVOs that we’ve already launched. If and what might be coming later in the year, we’d have to wait a bit longer for that. But overall, I think we have a very strong product and the reception for what we’ve launched has been very strong already.

Gerrick Johnson: Okay. So no production delays to worry about. It’s a conscious decision to launch these on a rolling basis then?

Jochen Zeitz: Not from today’s perspective. We’ve seen a good destabilization in our supply chain. It’s certainly not yet back to normal, but we feel confident that we are able to deliver the bikes at this point in time.

Gerrick Johnson: Okay, thank you.

Operator: The next question is from Jamie Katz with Morningstar. Your line is open.

Jamie Katz: Hi, good morning. First, a clarification. You guys noted historical levels of profitability is what you’re looking to get back to. I want to make sure that doesn’t mean peak level of profitability. So maybe mid-teen operating €“ motorcycle operating margins versus high-teen motorcycle operating margins? And then the other question I have is on LiveWire. I understand the issue with units being pushed back in 2023. But does that still keep you on that 2024 trajectory to deliver more than 15,000 units? And if not, does that derail your ability to eventually get to positive EBITDA in 2026, which was the initial outlook? Thanks.

Gina Goetter: Good morning, Jamie. This is Gina. I’ll take the first part of that. So in terms of historical levels of profitability, you’re headed in the right direction when you say is it more of the mid-teens. We are laser-focused on getting back to what we committed to as part of our Investor Day in May of getting that margin back to that, call it, 15%. So that’s where when we say historical, not peak.