WAUKESHA, Wis. — Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) (“Generac” or the “Company”), a leading global designer and manufacturer of energy technology solutions and other power products, today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full-year ended Dec. 31, 2020 and initiated its outlook for the full year 2021.     

Fourth Quarter 2020 Highlights

  • Net sales increased 29% to a record $761 million during the fourth quarter of 2020 as compared to $591 million in the prior-year fourth quarter. Core sales growth, which excludes both the impact of acquisitions and foreign currency, increased approximately 28%.
    • Residential product sales increased 55% to $499 million as compared to $323 million last year.
    • Commercial & Industrial (“C&I”) product sales decreased 9% to $199 million as compared to $217 million in the prior year.  
  • Net income attributable to the Company during the fourth quarter was $125 million, or $1.97 per share, as compared to $70 million, or $1.12 per share, for the same period of 2019.
  • Adjusted net income attributable to the Company, as defined in the accompanying reconciliation schedules, was a record $136 million, or $2.12 per share, as compared to $97 million, or $1.53 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2019.
  • Adjusted EBITDA before deducting for noncontrolling interests, as defined in the accompanying reconciliation schedules, was a record $196 million, or 25.7% of net sales, as compared to $129 million, or 21.9% of net sales, in the prior year.
  • Cashflow from operations was a record $218 million as compared to $175 million in the prior year. Free cash flow, as defined in the accompanying reconciliation schedules, was a record $191 million as compared to $160 million for 2019. The increase was primarily due to higher net income in the current year quarter, partially offset by the lower monetization of working capital and higher capital expenditures relative to the prior year quarter.
  • As previously announced on October 7, 2020, the Company closed on the acquisition of Enbala Power Networks Inc. (“Enbala”). Based in Denver, Colo., Enbala is one of the leading providers of distributed energy optimization and control software that helps support the operational stability of the world’s power grids.
  • The Company is initiating its full-year 2021 net sales growth guidance to be approximately 25-30% compared to the prior year on an as-reported basis, which includes approximately 2% of favorable impact from acquisitions and foreign currency. Adjusted EBITDA margin, before deducting for non-controlling interests, is expected to be approximately 24.0 to 25.0%, which is an increase from the 23.5% reported for the full-year 2020.

  • Full-Year 2020 Highlights

  • Net sales increased 13% to a record $2.5 billion during 2020 as compared to $2.2 billion in 2019, which includes $32 million of contribution from acquisitions. Total core sales growth for the year was approximately 12%.
    •  Residential product sales increased 36% to $1.56 billion as compared to $1.14 billion last year.
    • C&I product sales declined 19% to $702 million as compared to $872 million in the prior year.
  • Net income attributable to the Company during 2020 was a record $351 million, or $5.48 per share, as compared to $252 million, or $4.03 per share for 2019. The current year net income includes $11.5 million of pre-tax charges relating to restructuring costs and asset write-downs recorded during the second quarter to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Adjusted net income attributable to the Company was a record $412 million, or $6.47 per share, as compared to $318 million, or $5.06 per share, in 2019.
  • Adjusted EBITDA before deducting for non-controlling interests for 2020 was a record $584 million, or 23.5% of net sales, as compared to $454 million, or 20.6% of net sales, last year.
  • Cashflow from operations was a record $487 million as compared to $309 million in the prior year. Free cash flow was a record $427 million as compared to $251 million in 2019.  

“We continued to experience incredible demand for our home standby generators due to significantly higher power outage activity in recent quarters and the “Home as a Sanctuary” trend gained further traction, resulting in substantial backlog for these products as we enter 2021,” said Aaron Jagdfeld, President and Chief Executive Officer. “In addition, shipments of our PWRcell energy storage systems continued to further ramp during the quarter and were significantly higher on a sequential basis, and have considerable momentum heading into 2021. C&I product shipments continued to be negatively impacted from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the year-over-year revenue decline moderated as we saw certain end markets began to recover.”

Jagdfeld continued, “2020 was a very challenging year and I am extremely proud of the way our teams responded, particularly as we maintained operations with our designation as an essential business. In the face of a global pandemic, our record performance during the year was even more impressive as we made important progress with our evolution into an energy technology solutions company. We expect 2021 to be another very strong year given the significant momentum for our residential products and an expected return to growth for our C&I products. Our strong balance sheet and significant liquidity puts Generac in the enviable position to further capitalize on our key mega trends and drive additional shareholder value by expanding our addressable markets.”       

Additional Fourth Quarter 2020 Consolidated Highlights

Gross profit margin improved 180 basis points to 39.4% compared to 37.6% in the prior-year fourth quarter. The increase was primarily driven by favorable sales mix from significantly higher shipments of residential products and a lower mix of C&I products.

Operating expenses increased $11.4 million, or 9.7%, as compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. The increase was primarily driven by higher variable expenses from the significant increase in sales volumes, incremental spend related to clean energy products, and the impact of acquisitions. These increases were partially offset by a reduction in operating expenses as a result of restructuring actions initiated in the second quarter of 2020 and an overall reduction in controllable operating expenses.

Provision for income taxes for the current year quarter was $39.0 million, or an effective tax rate of 23.8%, as compared to $13.4 million, or a 16.1% effective tax rate, for the prior year. The increase in effective tax rate was primarily due to the significant increase in pretax income in the current year, while the prior year quarter was impacted by more favorable discrete tax items. For the full year 2020, the effective tax rate was 22.2% compared to 21.1% in the prior year.

Business Segment Results

Domestic Segment

Domestic segment sales increased 37.2% to $645.1 million as compared to $470.1 million in the prior year quarter. This growth was primarily driven by a significant increase in shipments of home standby generators, followed by the continued ramp of PWRcell energy storage systems. In addition, higher power outage activity drove elevated shipments of portable generators and aftermarket service parts, and shipments of chore products also improved at a strong rate as compared to the prior year. This broad-based residential products growth was partially offset by continued weakness in sales of C&I mobile products due to the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, while shipments to national telecom account customers increased at a significant rate compared to the prior year.

Adjusted EBITDA for the segment was $188.0 million, or 29.1% of net sales, as compared to $122.9 million in the prior year, or 26.1% of net sales. This margin increase was driven by favorable sales mix and higher operating leverage from the significant revenue growth for residential products.

International Segment

International segment sales decreased 4.1% to $116.0 million as compared to $120.9 million in the prior year quarter. The decline was driven by continued weakness in global C&I product demand in several regions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the year-over-year decline in the fourth quarter was at a notably lesser rate relative to recent quarters as certain regions are beginning to show signs of recovery.

Adjusted EBITDA for the segment, before deducting for noncontrolling interests, was $7.8 million, or 6.8% of net sales, as compared to $6.2 million, or 5.2% of net sales, in the prior year. The improvement in margin was due to the combination of lower operating expenses as a result of the restructuring activities initiated in the second quarter of 2020, partially offset by reduced operating leverage on the lower sales volumes.

2021 Outlook

Key demand metrics for home standby generators continued to trend much higher during the fourth quarter relative to prior year levels, leading to a substantial backlog for these products at the end of 2020, and this strength has continued thus far in the first quarter. In addition, the solar plus storage market is projected to experience significant year-over-year growth during 2021, contributing to the expectation of substantial growth of PWRcell energy storage systems as the Company continues to expand its presence in the clean energy market. Although demand for C&I products during 2020 was negatively impacted from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, shipments for these products are expected to return to growth across a number of key end markets and geographies.

As a result of these factors, the Company is initiating guidance for 2021 that anticipates significant revenue growth as compared to the prior year. Net sales are expected to increase between 25 to 30% as compared to the prior year on an as-reported basis, which includes approximately 2% of favorable impact from acquisitions and foreign currency.

Net income margin, before deducting for non-controlling interests, is expected to be approximately 15.0 to 16.0% for the full-year 2021, with the corresponding adjusted EBITDA margin expected to be approximately 24.0 to 25.0%, which is an increase from the 23.5% reported for the full-year 2020.

Operating and free cash flow generation is expected to be strong, with the conversion of adjusted net income to free cashflow expected to be approximately 90%.