Recreational Products Maker Johnson Outdoors Posts 22% Sales Decline In Q1, Fishing & Camping Take A Hit Amid Market Woes

Johnson Outdoors Inc (NASDAQ: JOUT) reported a first-quarter FY25 sales decline of 22% year-on-year to $107.65 million, beating the consensus of $104.73 million.

Loss per share of $1.49 missed the analyst consensus of $1.30 loss.

Fishing revenue decreased 25%, Camping & Watercraft Recreation was down 12% and Diving sales decreased 10%.

“Ongoing market challenges, a cautious retail and trade channel environment, and competitive pressures resulted in lower first quarter sales and profitability,” said Helen Johnson-Leipold, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

The operating loss for the quarter was $20.2 million compared to an operating income of $0.05 million last year.

The gross profit plunged 39% to $32.18 million and the gross margin contracted 820 basis points to 29.9%. The margin decline was due primarily to unfavorable overhead absorption and unfavorable product mix, as well as increased promotional pricing.

Operating expenses declined 0.7% Y/Y to $52.4 million. The company held $101.6 million in cash and equivalents as of December 27, 2024.

“Although we were disappointed in our operating results in what is historically our slowest quarter of the year, we were able to mitigate some of the profit losses through our cost savings initiatives, which we’ll expand this fiscal year, and we continued to make progress on managing our inventory levels,” said Vice President and CFO, David W. Johnson.

“Our debt-free balance sheet provides a competitive advantage in today’s marketplace and we remain confident in our ability to create long-term value and pay dividends to shareholders,” Johnson added.

Price Action: JOUT shares closed lower by 1.61% at $32.40 on Friday.

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