MarketSnacks
October 21, 2015
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Harley-Davidson drops to a 2-year low

Hell's Angels are going to freak out... if they own Harley-Davidson ($HOG)  stock in addition to their bikes. Shares of America's legendary motorcycle brand fell nearly 14% Tuesday to a 2-year low after an earnings report that crashed -- sales domestically dropped 2.5%, resulting in only $140 million in net income.

Unless you've got a large "MOM" tat... you're probably not riding dirty on a Harley every weekend. And that's a problem for HD. The company hasn't marketed to Millennial buyers and is getting under-priced by sleek new foreign bikes on the US market. That's dropped Harley's market share here down to nearly 50%. 

The takeaway...  is that Harley's had a tougher ride in 2015 than a Vespa on a rocky road. Its recall of 312,000 bikes in July because of "dysfunctional clutches" made things worse. Now Harley's also announced it will take a one-time $30 million charge as it "reorganizes" through job cuts and fresh marketing  to get in better shape for 2016.


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