Garmin reports strong revenue and operating income growth; proposes 7% dividend increase

Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN) today announced results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 28, 2019.

Highlights for fourth quarter 2019 include:

• Total revenue of $1.102 billion, an 18% increase, with fitness, aviation, marine and outdoor collectively increasing 24% over the prior year quarter
• Gross margin of 58.0% compared to 58.9% in the prior year quarter
• Operating margin improved to 25.1% compared to 23.9% in the prior year quarter
• Operating income of $277 million, increasing 24% over the prior year quarter
• GAAP EPS was $1.89 and pro forma EPS(1) was $1.29, representing 26% growth over the prior year quarter
• The Force™ trolling motor and GPSMAP® 86i were awarded the highly competitive DAME design award at METSTRADE
• Selected by Ford to provide electric vehicle navigation software on the next-generation SYNC platform for the Mustang Mach-E

Highlights for fiscal year 2019 include:

• Record consolidated revenue of $3.758 billion, a 12% increase, with fitness, aviation, marine and outdoor collectively increasing 18% over the prior year
• Gross margin improved to 59.5% compared to 59.1% in the prior year
• Operating margin improved to 25.2% compared to 23.3% in the prior year
• Record operating income of $946 million, increasing 21% over the prior year
• GAAP EPS was $4.99 and pro forma EPS(1) was $4.45, representing 21% growth over the prior year
• Selected by BMW AG as their lead design and production partner of infotainment modules for the BMW Group, validating Garmin as a tier 1 supplier to the world’s most respected brands
• Unveiled the Garmin Autoland system for general aviation, designed to safely land the aircraft in the event of a pilot incapacitation
• Completed several strategic acquisitions to strengthen our product portfolio, including Tacx®, a leading provider of indoor bike trainers
• Launched the fēnix® 6X Pro Solar, our first wearable featuring solar harvesting technology
• Named one of America’s Top 5 Best Employers by Forbes

Executive Overview from Cliff Pemble, President and Chief Executive Officer:

“2019 was another exciting year of growth thanks to our strong lineup of products and unique innovations,” said Cliff Pemble, president and chief executive officer of Garmin Ltd. “We entered 2020 with a great lineup of recently introduced products with more on the way. We are excited about the future because each business segment offers unique growth opportunities for 2020 and beyond.”

Fitness:

Revenue from the fitness segment grew 34% in the fourth quarter driven by strength in advanced wearables and contributions from Tacx. Gross margin and operating margin were 48% and 20%, respectively, resulting in 26% operating income growth. During the quarter, we announced our support of the Runner’s Alliance, an initiative to fight harassment experienced by women while running.

Aviation:

Revenue from the aviation segment grew 22% in the fourth quarter with contributions from both the aftermarket and OEM categories. Growth was broad-based across multiple product categories, with ADS-B being a major contributor. Gross margin and operating margin were 71% and 33%, respectively, resulting in 18% operating income growth. We expanded the availability of the G1000® NXi upgrade adding both the King Air C90 and the Embraer Phenom 100 to our list of certified aircraft.

Marine:

Revenue from the marine segment grew 22% in the fourth quarter driven by our innovative product lineup of chartplotters, advanced sonars, and the revolutionary new Force trolling motor. Gross margin and operating margin improved to 60% and 19%, respectively, resulting in 154% operating income growth. During the quarter, we expanded our flagship chartplotter line-up with the new GPSMAP Plus series and the ECHOMAP® UHD series.

Outdoor:

Revenue from the outdoor segment grew 16% in the fourth quarter with significant contributions from adventure watches. Gross margin and operating margin were 66% and 39%, respectively, resulting in 21% operating income growth. During the quarter, we announced a global collaboration with World Central Kitchen, providing inReach® satellite communication devices to help support disaster relief with emergency response efforts around the globe. Since its launch in 2011, Garmin inReach has provided remote communication and rescue facilitation in over 4,000 SOS incidents, demonstrating the crucial importance of satellite based two-way messaging wherever our customers need assistance.

Auto:

The auto segment recorded a decline in revenue of 15% during the fourth quarter, primarily due to the ongoing PND market contraction and lower year-over-year OEM sales. Gross margin and operating margin were 47% and 2%, respectively. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, we announced our new dual-lens Dash Cam Tandem that captures quality video both inside and outside of the vehicle.

Additional Financial Information:

Total operating expenses in the fourth quarter were $363 million, an 11% increase over the prior year. Research and development increased 12%, primarily due to engineering personnel costs and incremental costs associated with acquisitions. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 10%, driven primarily by personnel related expenses and incremental costs associated with acquisitions. Advertising increased 13%, driven by higher spending in the fitness and outdoor segments.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, we reported a $73 million income tax benefit. Excluding the $118 million income tax benefit due to the revaluation and step-up of certain Switzerland tax assets, our pro forma effective tax rate(1) in the fourth quarter of 2019 was 15.5% compared to 18.0% in the prior year quarter. The decrease in the current quarter pro forma effective tax rate is primarily due to income mix by jurisdiction.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, we generated approximately $208 million of free cash flow(1). We ended the quarter with cash and marketable securities of approximately $2.6 billion.

2020 Guidance (2):

We expect 2020 revenue of approximately $4.0 billion as growth in fitness, outdoor and marine is partially offset by declines in the auto segment. We expect our full year pro forma EPS will be approximately $4.60 based upon gross margin of approximately 59.2%, operating margin of approximately 23.5% and a full year pro forma effective tax rate of approximately 10.0%. The expected year-over-year decrease in the pro forma tax rate is primarily due to the migration of intellectual property ownership from Switzerland to the United States.

Dividend Recommendation:

The board of directors intends to recommend to the shareholders for approval at the annual meeting to be held on June 5, 2020, a cash dividend in the amount of $2.44 per share (subject to possible adjustment based on the total amount of the dividend in Swiss Francs as approved at the annual meeting), payable in four equal installments on dates to be determined by the Board. The Board currently anticipates the scheduling of the dividend in four installments as follows:

In addition, the board of directors has established March 31, 2020 as the payment date and March 16, 2020 as the record date for the final dividend installment of $0.57 per share, per the prior approval at the 2019 annual shareholders’ meeting. The first, second and third payments of $0.57 per share were made on June 28, 2019, September 30, 2019, and December 31, 2019, respectively.

Webcast Information/Forward-Looking Statements:

The information for Garmin Ltd.’s earnings call is as follows:

An archive of the live webcast will be available until February 18, 2021 on the Garmin website at www.garmin.com. To access the replay, click on the Investor Relations link and click over to the Events Calendar page.

This release includes projections and other forward-looking statements regarding Garmin Ltd. and its business that are commonly identified by words such as “would,” “may,” “expects,” “estimates,” “plans,” “intends,” “projects,” and other words or phrases with similar meanings. Any statements regarding the Company’s GAAP and pro forma estimated earnings, EPS, and effective tax rate, and the Company’s expected segment revenue growth rates, consolidated revenue, gross margins, operating margins, potential future acquisitions, currency movements, expenses, pricing, new products to be introduced in 2020, statements relating to possible future dividends and the Company’s plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could differ materially as a result of risk factors and uncertainties affecting Garmin, including, but not limited to, the risk factors that are described in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2019 filed by Garmin with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission file number 0-31983). A copy of Garmin’s 2019 Form 10-K can be downloaded from https://www.garmin.com/en-US/company/investors/sec/form-10-K/.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release and the attachments contain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation to the nearest GAAP measure and a discussion of the Company's use of these measures are included in the attachments.

Garmin, the Garmin logo, the Garmin delta, fēnix, GPSMAP, Tacx, G1000, ECHOMAP, Force and inReach, are trademarks of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries and are registered in one or more countries, including the U.S. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, the methodology used to allocate certain selling, general, and administrative expenses to the segments was refined. The Company’s composition of segments did not change. Prior year amounts are presented above as they were originally reported. For comparative purposes, we estimate segment operating income for the 13 weeks ended December 29, 2018 would have been approximately $5 million less for the aviation segment, approximately $1 million more for the marine segment, $4 million more for the outdoor segment, and not significantly different for the fitness and auto segments. We estimate segment operating income for the 52 weeks ended December 29, 2018 would have been approximately $18 million less for the aviation segment, approximately $11 million more for the marine segment, approximately $7 million more for the outdoor segment, and not significantly different for the fitness and auto segments.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

To supplement our financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, this release includes the following measures defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission as non-GAAP financial measures: pro forma net income (earnings) per share, pro forma effective tax rate and free cash flow. These non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles and should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies, limiting the usefulness of the measures for comparison with other companies. Management believes providing investors with an operating view consistent with how it manages the Company provides enhanced transparency into the operating results of the Company, as described in more detail by category below.

The tables below provide reconciliations between the GAAP and non-GAAP measures.

Pro forma effective tax rate

The Company’s income tax expense is periodically impacted by discrete tax items that are not reflective of income tax expense incurred as a result of current period earnings. Therefore, management believes disclosure of the effective tax rate and income tax provision before the effect of certain discrete tax items are important measures to permit investors' consistent comparison between periods. In 2018, there were no such discrete tax items identified.

The net release of uncertain tax position reserves, amounting to approximately $28.9 million and $31.0 million for the 52-weeks ended December 28, 2019 and December 29, 2018, respectively, have not been included as pro forma adjustments in the above presentation of pro forma income tax provision as such items tend to be more recurring in nature.

Pro forma net income (earnings) per share

Management believes that net income (earnings) per share before the impact of foreign currency gains or losses and certain discrete income tax items, as discussed above, is an important measure in order to permit a consistent comparison of the Company’s performance between periods.

Free cash flow

Management believes that free cash flow is an important financial measure because it represents the amount of cash provided by operations that is available for investing and defines it as operating cash flows less capital expenditures for property and equipment. Management believes that excluding purchases of property and equipment provides a better understanding of the underlying trends in the Company’s operating performance and allows more accurate comparisons of the Company’s operating results to historical performance. This metric may also be useful to investors, but should not be considered in isolation as it is not a measure of cash flow available for discretionary expenditures. The most comparable GAAP measure is net cash provided by operating activities.

Forward-looking Financial Measures

The forward-looking financial measures in our 2020 guidance provided above do not consider the potential future net effect of certain discrete tax items, foreign currency exchange gains and losses, and any other impacts that may be identified as pro forma adjustments in calculating the non-GAAP measures described above.

At this time, management is unable to determine whether or not significant discrete tax items will occur in fiscal 2020, reasonably estimate such foreign currency gains and losses, or anticipate the impact of any other events that may be considered in the calculation of non-GAAP financial measures.

The estimated impact of foreign currency gains and losses cannot be reasonably estimated on a forward-looking basis due to the high variability and low visibility with respect to non-operating foreign currency exchange gains and losses and the related tax effects of such gains and losses. The impact on diluted net income per share of foreign currency gains and losses, net of tax effects, was $0.07 per share for the 52-weeks ended December 28, 2019.

Category: Corporate

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