Harley-Davidson Shares Rise on Note

From AP:

NEW YORK (AP) – Shares of Harley-Davidson Inc. rose Wednesday after an analyst issued a report saying the motorcycle manufacturer’s spring sales may be up more than expected.
In afternoon trading, Harley-Davidson shares were up $1.59, or 3.3 percent, to $49.55 on the New York Stock Exchange. Over the past year, the company’s shares have traded between $44.40 and $55.93.
Robin M. Farley of UBS Investment Research maintained his “Neutral” rating of the company, but said Harley-Davidson could post a 6 percent to 7 percent increase in U.S. retail sales at the dealer level for the period of April through May.
“Solid numbers so far in the second quarter seem to show Harley-Davidson consumer is intact,” Farley wrote in a note to investors.
“Unless we see a decline in June (we don’t think likely), second-quarter retail sales should meet Harley-Davidson’s target of plus 5 percent to 9 percent, and well ahead of Harley-Davidson’s planned increase in shipments of plus 1 percent in the second.”
But Farley cautioned that despite a year-to-date increase in retail sales of about 5 percent, the company’s shipments are back-end loaded and demand is not growing as much as Harley-Davidson’s planned production rate.

Posted by on June 7th, 2006 at 4:12 pm


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