Arctic Cat Q3 Earnings Decrease, Cuts FY14 Outlook

(RTTNews) - Arctic Cat Inc., (ACAT), a maker of all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles, reported a drop in third-quarter earnings chiefly due to lower margins on snowmobile models the company had built for Yamaha and the all-terrain vehicle product mix. Further, the company lowered its guidance for 2014.

Earnings of the company declined to $12.12 million, or $0.89 per share, from $17.85 million, or $1.30 per share, a year ago. On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters estimated the company's earnings to be $1.32 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Net sales rose to $225.79 million from $218.02 million last year. Total cost of goods sold increased to $185.58 million from $167.22 million a a year ago.

For the fiscal year 2014, Arctic Cat lowered its guidance for earnings per share to $2.90 to $3.00 from the previously-projected range $3.27 to $3.37, and revenue guidance to $740 million to $750 million from the prior range of $754 million to $768 million.

Analysts expect the company to report earnings per share of $3.25 and revenue of $749.92 million for the year.

The company said, "With the launch of the Wildcat Trail, we expect strong fourth-quarter sales and earnings versus last year. And we are confident that we will achieve another year of increased sales in fiscal 2014. Looking forward, we continue to expect our growth to stem from a strong pipeline of innovative new products and technologies, further market share gains in the growing side-by-side segment and greater operating efficiencies."