Harley-Davidson’s stock rises after profit beats expectations by a wide margin, while motorcycle shipments fell again

Shares of Harley-Davidson Inc.
HOG,
+1.11%
rose 1% in premarket trading Thursday, after the motorcycle maker beat fourth-quarter profit expectations by a wide margin, even as motorcycle shipments continued to fall due to “prudent” dealer inventory management and market conditions. Net income dropped to $25.8 million, or 18 cents a share, from $41.9 million, or 28 cents a share, in the year-ago period. That beat the FactSet consensus for earnings per share of 4 cents. Revenue declined 7.8% to $1.05 billion, but topped the FactSet consensus of 998.2 million. Motorcycle shipments fell 13%, the third straight quarter of declines, while motorcycle sales declined 12.5% to $583 million and parts and accessories sales dropped 13.9% to $130 million. Harley said it sold 514 LiveWire electric motorcycles in the fourth quarter, up from 69 a year ago, and expects to ship 1,000 to 1,500 EMs in 2024.