Harley stock soars 30% this week electric motorcycle

[Jay McKinsey + 1,490]

https://electrek.co/2020/04/29/harley-davidson-stock-soars-30-this-week-company-recommits-to-electric-motorcycles/

"It’s no secret that Harley-Davidson has been in a tough financial spot for the last few years. And the figures from Harley-Davidson’s first-quarter earning’s call indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t made the picture any rosier.

But after H-D’s acting CEO Jochen Zeitz laid out the company’s cash preservation plan and profitability strategy to deal with the effects of the global financial downturn, which included reaffirming the company’s commitment to electric motorcycles, the company’s stock price has been on a tear.

In fact, H-D stock is up approximately 30% since the beginning of this week. And that’d despite the continued drop in Q1 sales figures revealed yesterday.

Harley-Davidson’s retail motorcycle sales were down 15.5% in the US compared to Q1 2019. Globally, that number was 17.7%.

Total revenue was similarly low, dropping 8% from $1,195,637,000 in Q1 2019 to $1,099,788,000 in Q1 2020."

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

Harley is dying on the vine due to the fact that their core supporters are dying off as well. This has nothing to do with electric motorcycles, which so far have not much of a following in the biker community.

Unless Harley starts making bikes which are attractive,and affordable, to the younger riders, their future looks bleak.

Earlier they blew a chance to do just this when Buell was identified with the brand. Their Revolution motor is well suited to sportier bikes, if they would wrap it in a good naked chassis. They should never have discontinued the VRod line. We’ll need to see hoe the Bronx sells.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Douglas Buckland
Hhh

[Jay McKinsey + 1,490]

Well the investors apparently liked what they heard. 

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

1 hour ago, Jay McKinsey said:

Well the investors apparently liked what they heard. 

Whether the investors like what they heard or not is immaterial if people are not buying their bikes in sufficient numbers. Harley has been losing market share for several years as buyers entering the market prefer performance over tradition these days. A young guy or gal looking for their first bike are buying Italian, German and Japanese bikes - a much better ‘bang for your buck’. Harley’s are low on the performance meter and high on the cost scale.

Moving out of Milwaukee to a ‘right to work’ (non-union) would be a step in the right direction.

I am NOT anti-Harley, far from it! I am on my third one now and am extremely happy with it (2012 Nightrod Special), but again, I am 60 years old. I would like HD to not only survive, but grow. To do this they MUST attract the younger and entry level riders, which means more performance and a competitive price tag.

Regarding Harley’s new electric bike, the Live Wire, please see the article below:

https://paultan.org/2020/02/24/first-look-harley-davidson-livewire-electric-motorcycle-a-sharp-shock-to-the-senses/

This was written by my riding partner after he returned from the Harley ‘launch’ in Spain recently. A good, unbiased (he rides. Triumph 765 RS) review.

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

2 hours ago, Jay McKinsey said:

Well the investors apparently liked what they heard. 

The LiveWire bike in that video is a fine looking machine, I'll say that much.  I like the heartbeat or pulse mode as well, although it might well be something you'd turn off after the gee wiz factor wears off.  Pretty nice machine, overall.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Dan Warnick

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

51 minutes ago, Douglas Buckland said:

Regarding Harley’s new electric bike, the Live Wire, please see the article below:

https://paultan.org/2020/02/24/first-look-harley-davidson-livewire-electric-motorcycle-a-sharp-shock-to-the-senses/

This was written by my riding partner after he returned from the Harley ‘launch’ in Spain recently. A good, unbiased (he rides. Triumph 765 RS) review.

That is a good article.

[the_phoenix612 + 9]

God, I would buy the **** out of a new Buell!  

As a 28 year old guy, though, all I really care about is the performance/price intersect.  I've owned three different Japanese builds and am currently shopping for a litre bike and exclusively looking at German/Italian makes.

[KeyboardWarrior + 527]

18 hours ago, Jay McKinsey said:

Well the investors apparently liked what they heard. 

Do you not understand the basics of how investors react to random meaningless shit? 

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

1 hour ago, KeyboardWarrior said:

Do you not understand the basics of how investors react to random meaningless shit? 

Maybe it was before your time, but people used to invest in the actual value of a company, its product line and new product stream, things like that.  Not just stock buybacks to prop up the stock price ensuring the C-suite get inflated bonuses based solely on current stock price.

Also, in this case, I would say investors are voting with their money, encouraged by the forward looking (stream) vision of the company.

Just my opinion.  Your mileage may vary.