Harley-Davidson 4Q revenue weak, motorcycle shipments down

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Harley-Davidson's fourth-quarter profit dropped from a year earlier, stung by a large restructuring expense. While its adjusted results met Wall Street's view, revenue was pressured by lower sales in the motorcycle segment and a decline in shipments.

Shares slid 6 percent in morning trading Tuesday.

The motorcycle maker earned $495,000, or less than a penny a share, for the period ended Dec. 31. A year earlier the Milwaukee-based company earned $8.3 million, or 5 cents per share.

The latest quarter included a restructuring expense of $19.4 million. Excluding that and the impact of tariffs, earnings were 17 cents per share, in line with the estimates of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

Motorcycle sales totaled $955.6 million. Including financial services results, total revenue was $1.15 billion. Wall Street predicted $1.05 billion in revenue.

Sales for the motorcycle segment declined in the quarter, with shipments down 7.9 percent to 43,489.

For the year, Harley-Davidson Inc. reported a profit of $531.5 million, or $3.19 per share, on revenue of $4.97 billion.

Looking ahead, the company forecast shipments of between 53,000 and 58,000 for the first quarter and a range of 217,000 to 222,000 for the full year.