Harley Davidson: Stock Going Hog Wild or A Crank Case?
By: It's been a rough week for shares of Harley Davidson - the stock is down nearly 4%. But over the last 6 months--the shares have been riding high on the hog, so to speak--up close to 40%. On "Squawk on the Street," CNBC’s Melissa Lee attempted to determine if Harley Davidson was at a crossroads.
Citigroup Analyst Gregory Badishkanian said that the stock is up since Harley Davidson introduced new products in July and investors got very enthusiastic- 3Q U.S. sales were up 7% which is nice sales growth.
October and November, however was another story. There was moderation; low single digit growth.
Badishkanian does not think it’s a good time to buy – he said wait for the company to report 4th quarter earnings.
Mark Haines remarked that historically Harley has had a back log of orders – “You’d have to wait quite while to get your bike,” he said. Badishkanian remarked, “Just within the past few years, Harley has increased supply to meet demand. Now a customer can go into a store and take a bike away.” But, as Mark Haines observed, that also makes them more vulnerable to cyclicality (business cycles--no pun intended).
Analyst disclosure: HOG is an investment banking client and a non-investment banking client of Citigroup.
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