Businesses in virtually every sector of our economy are certainly struggling at the present time, but you couldn’t tell by looking at Polaris Industries. The company reported better-than-expected second quarter financial results this week, including a 21-percent increase in sales since the same time last year.
The recreational vehicle manufacturer shocked many Wall Street analysts with the favorable results, granted the fact that – at the current moment – not many families are enjoying large disposable incomes. Nonetheless, Polaris enjoyed a quarterly profit of $24.4 million, equal to 72 cents of earnings per share.
The company attributes a great deal of its recent success to ATV sales, as noted by CEO Tom Tiller in an interview given on Tuesday (July 15th). “The RZR, a sporty, two-seat all-terrain vehicle is selling well in North America and overseas. Supply remains behind demand, and the company plans to raise RZR production a fifth time in coming months,” said Tiller, “We’ve proven that innovative products sell and sell well, even in this environment.”
Mr. Tiller also expressed a positive outlook on the remainder of 2008, which has been shared by several analysts. Rommel Dionisio of Wedbush Morgan cites a past restructuring paying off as one of the main reasons why Polaris is not feeling the same economic pressure as other companies. “There are economic concerns, that doesn’t seem like it’s going away,” Dionisio said. “But they’re reaping the fruits of investments they’ve made.”
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