Cliff Pemble
Analyst · Simona Jankowski from Goldman Sachs, your question, please
Thank you, Kerri, and good morning, everyone. As previously announced Garmin reported third-quarter revenue decreased 4% year-over-year. Aviation, fitness, marine and outdoor contributed 61% of total revenues and 75% of the operating profit in the third quarter. We continue to see our revenue base diversify broadly across our business segments. Gross margin was 53% and operating margin came in at 18.5%. Reduction in margins from the prior year reflects a combination of factors. Including downward pressure from unfavorable currency movements, a more competitive pricing environment, particularly in the fitness market and continued investments in advertising and R&D. These factors, combined with a higher effective tax rate, resulted in pro forma EPS of $0.51 in the quarter. Throughout the year we have highlighted that the strong U.S. Dollar related revenue has been in geographies of weaker currencies. In contrast, unit delivers were up 4% for the quarter and 10% for the year, due to the contribution from growth segments. While our primary yardstick is financial performance, we are encouraged by the underlying trends reflected in unit growth. Doug will discuss our financial results in greater detail in a few minutes, but first I’ll provide a few comments on each business segment. Beginning with the fitness segment, revenue grew 23% on a year-over-year basis with the sequential acceleration driven by strength in activity trackers, multisport, and cycling products. It’s interesting to note that current headwinds disproportionately impact the fitness segment due to the geographical revenue mix. These headwinds have softened revenue growth while unit deliveries have remained strong. We believe this indicates that the underlying business case remains sound Gross and operating margins were 54% and 19% respectively. Gross margin was impacted by unfavorable currency movements and competitive dynamics in the market. Operating margin was impacted by increased spending in R&D and global advertising. We believe these investments are strategically important in order to maximize the opportunity in this high growth segment. We’ve recently introduced a new family of Forerunner products which includes three models the Forerunner 230, Forerunner 235, and Forerunner 630. Notably, the Forerunner 235 is our first wearable to incorporate Garmin Elevate technology. Garmin Elevate is a wrist-based heart rate sensor we specifically developed to serve a broad range of used cases from all-day heart rate tracking to intense workouts. All of the new Forerunners are compatible with our Connect IQ application framework, enabling users to personalize their watches with a host of interesting watch faces, custom data fields, and useful applications developed by third parties. We also recently introduced an exciting new activity tracker called vívosmart HR, which also features Garmin Elevate technology for all-day heart rate tracking and activity intensity monitoring. Garmin Elevate technology combined with an always-on display and smart notifications, make the vívosmart HR one of the most capable activity trackers available on the market. To support these products and many others we have released a major update of Garmin Connect Mobile. This update features a completely new user interface making an easy to view important activity information at a glance and providing even more customizations to fit individual needs. All of these new products are shipping now and we will soon launch a major new advertising campaign to support sales during the upcoming holiday shopping season. Looking at outdoor revenue declined 5% year-over-year, as the revenue mix shifted to geographies with weaker currencies. Gross and operating margins were stable sequentially, but declined year-over-year driven primarily by currency weakness and product mix. The Fenix 3 has been an exciting success story this year. During the quarter we expanded the available choices for Fenix 3 with new color and material options and time for the holiday shopping season. Turning next aviation, revenue declined 5%, as the industry had been impacted by lower oil prices and stock market volatility. Gross and operating margins remained strong at 74% and 25% respectively, though operating margin declined on a year-over-year basis due to R&D growth supporting future revenue opportunities. While the industry slowdown is disappointing, we remain confident in our improving position in the business jet category and look forward to completing development and certification of additional aircraft platform, as previously announced. We remain confident in our market position and the opportunities for long-term growth. Looking at submarine, revenue was flat in the third quarter, as the boating season ended and we passed the first anniversary of the July 2014 acquisition of Fusion. Gross and operating margins improved as mix shifted to new products with higher margin profiles. Our investment and innovation has resulted in increased market share and industry-wide recognition. Garmin was recently honored as Manufacturer of the Year by the National Marine Electronics Association. We also won four product-specific awards in the autopilot multi-function display and smartphone applications categories. We intend to build on this momentum in the coming year with additional innovation and market share gains. In the auto segment, revenues were down 14% in the quarter, driven by the secular decline in PND market, as expected, however, our worldwide market share remains stable and strong. The PND market is an important part of our business and we remain focused on delivering a superior in-vehicle experience. Most recent example is babyCam, which was announced earlier this month. babyCam is a back seat monitoring system that streams wireless video to compatible Garmin PNDs. This system provides front seat passengers the ability to safely monitor the well-being of other passengers or cargo and appliance. As previously announced we’ve updated our full-year guidance and now anticipate revenues of approximately $2.8 billion, which includes approximately $185 million of negative currency impact, due to the stronger U.S. Dollar. Our revenue outlook has been adjusted in fitness, outdoor and aviation, which are the segments most impacted by the economic and competitive factors, mentioned previously. We expect gross margin to be approximately 53.5%, down slightly from previous guidance, due to unfavorable geographic revenue mix and competitive pricing dynamics in the fitness segment. Due to the revenue and gross margin revisions, we now expect operating margin to be approximately 18.4%. Finally, we anticipate pro forma EPS of approximately $2.25, which also reflects the higher anticipated tax rate for the full year. While it’s disappointing to revise to our guidance, we believe that the underlying business trends remain positive. And our investments in R&D and advertising will create long-term opportunities. That concludes my remarks. Next Doug will walk you through additional details on our financial results. Doug?