Outdoor power equipment dealers' same-store sales were down 10% in November, according to analysts with D.A. Davidson & Co.
Sales were down approximately 14% in Toro Co.’s fourth quarter, which ended in October, wrote Michael Shlisky, analyst with D.A. Davidson in a note to investors. “Much like with ag equipment, November sales may have suffered after a reasonably-good October, as industry leader Toro may have wrapped up its fiscal year that month with promotions to further clear out dealer inventories. We expect to learn more on this topic on tomorrow's earnings call,” he said.
Shlisky’s group compared Toro’s wholesale shipments to industry dealer same-store sales data to gauge the company’s success at reducing inventories. “Our analysis of Toro’s Professional segment (which admittedly is global and includes Construction, Snow and Golf, but is North America-focused) suggests that the company's wholesale shipment year-over-year growth has been below that of dealer same-store sales for each of the last 5 quarters, but in F4Q this might have reversed due to strong trends in non-turf categories such as golf,” he said.
