LiveWire Gr (NYSE:LVWR) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Tuesday. Read the complete transcript below.
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The full earnings call is available at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/170803264
Summary
LiveWire Gr reported a 12% decline in consolidated revenue for Q1 2026, primarily due to a 54% decline in HDFS revenue after transitioning to a capital light model.
The company saw a 14% increase in North American retail sales, contributing to an 8% global growth, despite a challenging consumer environment.
Management introduced a new strategic plan 'Back to the BRICS' focusing on leveraging brand strengths, enhancing dealer relationships, and expanding product lines with models like Sportster and Sprint.
LiveWire Gr reaffirmed its full-year guidance, expecting retail and wholesale units to align closely, with plans to manage dealer inventory effectively.
CEO Artie Stars emphasized the importance of dealer profitability, aiming to double it by 2026 through inventory rightsizing and strategic initiatives in parts and accessories.
Full Transcript
OPERATOR
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to The Harley Davidson 2026 first quarter investor and Analyst Conference Call. Please be advised that today's conference call is being recorded. I would now like to hand the call over to Sean Collins. Thank you. Please go ahead.
Sean Collins (Director of Investor Relations)
Thank you. Good morning. This is Sean Collins, the Director of Investor Relations at Harley Davidson. You can access the slides supporting today's call on the Internet at the Harley Davidson Investor Relations website. As you might expect, our comments will include forward looking statements that are subject to risks that could cause actual results to be materially different. Those risks include, among others, matters we have noted in today's earnings release and in our latest filings with the SEC. Joining me for this morning's call are Harley Davidson Chief Executive Officer Arty Starrs and Chief Financial and Commercial Officer Jonathan Roof. With that, let me turn it over to Harley Davidson CEO Arty Starrs.
Artie Starrs
Thank you, Sean and good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today for our Q1 2026 financial results as well as an introduction to our new strategic plan, which we're calling Back to the BRICKS. I'll begin with an overview of of our Q1 performance. Jonathan will then provide additional financial commentary before we turn to our strategy. Before I get into it, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge our deeply committed and passionate Harley Davidson employees who work tirelessly to bring Harley Davidson alive across the world. Thank you Team HD. Starting with retail sales, we're pleased with our performance. This quarter, North America delivered a 14% increase versus the prior year, contributing to global retail sales growth of 8% in what remains a challenging consumer environment. These results reflect the impact of the actions we've taken to drive demand and improve execution. As noted on the Q4 earnings call, dealer health and inventory levels remain a key focus for the company. During the quarter, we reduced global inventory by 22% year over year as we continued to prioritize dealer inventory sell through and aligning wholesale shipments with retail demand. We'll share more detail on this in our strategy discussion. Strengthening dealer relationships has also remained a priority. We recognize the critical role our dealer network plays in the Harley Davidson ecosystem and we're encouraged by the renewed sense of partnership and momentum across the network. This will be an important driver as we move forward into our next chapter. During the quarter, we also formally reopened our Juneau Avenue headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, affectionately referred to by our Harley Davidson community as the BRICKS, with our employees at headquarters returning to the office for the first time since 2020. Finally, we've been encouraged by the early reception to our new marketing platform ride, I'll speak more about the brand platform and the value we believe it will bring as part of our strategy presentation. With that, I'll turn it over to Jonathan.
Jonathan Roof (Chief Financial and Commercial Officer)
Thank you Artie, and good morning to all. I plan to start on page four of the presentation where I will briefly summarize the financial results for the first quarter. Subsequently, I will go into further detail on each business segment. Let me start with our consolidated financial Results for the first quarter of 2026. Consolidated revenue in the first quarter was down 12%, driven primarily by Harley-Davidson Financial Services revenue being down 54% as it moved into a new Capital Light model. After the closing of the Harley-Davidson Financial Services transaction where we sold a significant part of the retail loan book and agreed to a forward flow in which we expect to sell approximate two thirds of future originations. Consolidated operating income in the first quarter came in at $23 million compared to operating income of $160 million in Q1 of 2025. This was driven by a significant year over year decline in operating income at both HDMC and Harley-Davidson Financial Services. As we expected, the operating loss at Livewire was $18 million, which was in line with our expectations and $2 million favorable to a year ago. In Q1, earnings per share was $0.22, which compares to $1.07 in Q1 of 2025. Now turning to Page 5 and HDMC retail performance in Q1 North American retail sales of new motorcycles were up 14% versus prior year with approximately 24,000 motorcycles sold in Q1. Retail sales of new motorcycles outside of North America were down 4% versus prior year with approximately 10,000 motorcycles sold, resulting in Q1 global retail sales of new motorcycles being up 8% versus the prior year with a total of approximately 34,000 motorcycles retailed. While we are relatively pleased with the start to the year, particularly in the US we remain mindful of the global consumer discretionary landscape which remains uneven. We are aware that pricing continues to be on the top of customers minds given the current global setup that includes inflationary pressures, interest rates that continue to run above recent historical lows, and global geopolitical uncertainty. In North America, Q1 retail sales were up 14% where US retail sales were up 16% and Canada retail sales were down 8%. Results were driven by continued strength in our touring and trike models as consumers reacted well to our new 2026 motorcycle launch and targeted customer incentives. This translated into a significant market share gain with Harley Davidson Reaching 38% of the US 601cc plus market up 2 percentage points Year over year. Dealer inventory In North America declined 21% year over year, reflecting a more balanced setup as we enter the main riding season. In EMEA, Q1 retail sales posted a modest decline of 3% in the quarter. Performance reflected a subdued economic environment in Europe, although supported with early model year 2026 price product momentum across the continent, as evidenced by the quick sell through of new units that began arriving later in Q1. The Rev Max platform continued to outperform the broader portfolio led by Adventure Touring, which showed strong growth year over year. In addition, from a market share standpoint, we moved from 2% to 4% of share in the European market in Q1. In Asia Pacific, Q1 retail sales declined by 9% in the quarter. We experienced modest declines in the core portfolio including Touring, Trike and Softail, reflecting broad based pressure across Japan, Australia and China, partially offset by positive results in our non core motorcycle portfolio with strength in Adventure Touring. In Latin America, Q1 retail sales delivered another strong quarter with retail up 21% where both Brazil, our largest Latin American market, and Mexico were up while other Latin American countries were down modestly year over year. Touring and Trike were the standout categories in the market. Dealer inventory at the end of Q1 of 26 was down 22% versus the end of Q1 of 25. Specifically, North American dealer inventory was down 21% and dealer inventory outside of North America was down 23%. This has allowed Harley Davidson dealers to start the upcoming 2026 riding season with a largely appropriate setup. In addition, the quality of dealer inventory is healthier today than one year ago as it is more current from a model year standpoint. At the end of Q1, North America dealer inventory was comprised of approximately two thirds of current model year 2026 motorcycles. In comparison, in the prior year period, a little less than 1/2 of all dealer inventory was current model year. We expect this improvement in healthy dealer inventory to pay dividends in future periods and believe it sets Harley Davidson and our dealers up for greater success. Before we get into revenue, let's conclude with some information on wholesale shipments. From a wholesale shipment perspective. In Q1 of 2026 we delivered approximately 37.3 thousand units compared to 38.6 thousand units in Q1 of 2025, which is down 3% year over year. As we are now beginning the prime riding season in North America, we have recently heard from dealers that they could benefit from more inventory with regard to particular places, models and trim levels. This is a good sign and we expect to ship more units on a year over year basis in Q2 and Q4 while running lower in Q3 in comparison to the prior year periods. We expect this will get us to a more even shipment cadence across the quarters in comparison to what we have delivered in recent years. Now turning to page 6 and HDMC revenue performance in Q1 HDMC revenue decreased by 2% coming in at $1.1 billion. We point out that from a business line standpoint motorcycles came in at $836 million, T&A plus apparel came in at $200 million and licensing and other came in at $20 million. The drivers of overall revenue at HDMC included lower volume or shipments and lower net pricing and incentive spending. These were partially offset by favorable foreign currency. Now turning to page 7 and HDMC margin performance in Q1HDMC gross profit came in at 25.3% which compares to 29.1% in the prior year. The year over year decrease was driven by the unfavorable impacts of increased Tariff costs of $45 million in Q1, which will be covered in more detail in the next slide. Net pricing and incentive spend due to effective sell through of prior model year dealer inventory product mix, lower volumes and higher than expected supply management costs as we work through a unique supplier situation. These were partially offset by the positive effects of tariff recoveries, settlement from prior years and favorable foreign exchange. In Q1 operating expenses totaled $248 million which was $49 million higher compared to prior year. This falls into two broad buckets. The first piece is a restructuring expense of $15 million driven by costs incurred related to strategic changes including the company's decision to eliminate certain roles resulting in one time employee termination benefits and and other restructuring charges. The second piece consists of $34 million of additional costs in the quarter specifically due to higher warranty spend due to select product recalls. Select people costs primarily related to executive team changes on a year over year basis, increased marketing spend as the marketing development fund matures and limited other discrete expenses to operate the business. In Q1HDMC had operating income of $19 million which compares to operating income of $116 million in the prior year period. Turning to slide 8 in 2026, the overall global tariff regulatory environment continues to evolve. There are a number of factors at play in this space including the potential for increased tariff recoveries, evolution in the application of IEFA section 122 and updates to section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs in Q1 we saw the most significant year over year impact in tariffs we expect to experience this year. This is a result of the increased tariff levels which were initially put in place beginning in Q2 of 2025. In Q1 of 26 the cost of new or increased tariffs was $45 million. As tariff policy changes, there are lags associated with the various tariff levels as these adjustments work their way through our parts inventory imported prior to the current section 232 pronouncements. We continue to pursue mitigation actions where possible and pursue tariff recoveries when applicable. We note that recent US Administration tariff regulation announced in early April included an exemption on certain motorcycles and for parts and accessories for the use in the manufacturing of motorcycles. We would note that Harley Davidson is a business very centered in and around the United States. Three of our four manufacturing centers are U.S. based and 100% of our U.S. core product is manufactured in the U.S. this change will serve in helping mitigate the impact of to tariffs to Harley Davidson and enable us to strengthen our commitment to US Manufacturing at this point in time. We expect the cost of increased tariffs to be in a range of 75 million to $90 million for the full year 2026, which is favorable to what we guided to in our prior quarter. From a cadence perspective, our expected tariff amount will decrease consecutively as we work our way across the remaining quarters in 2026. Turning to Harley-Davidson Financial Services on page nine at Harley Davidson Financial Services, Q1 revenue came in at $112 million, a decrease of 54% driven by lower interest income due to the decline in retail receivables related to the sale of loan assets as part of the new Harley-Davidson Financial Services transaction. Other income within Harley-Davidson Financial Services revenue was favorable year over year and due primarily to new servicing fees, investment income and new gains on third party loan sales. Harley-Davidson Financial Services operating income was $22 million representing an operating income margin of 19.9%. On the expense side, interest expense and the provision for credit loss expense were both significantly lower, which was due to the decreased size of the retail loan portfolio and related debt on a year over year basis and as expected with the change in strategy associated with the Harley-Davidson Financial Services transaction, the Harley-Davidson Financial Services team continues to manage expenses prudently with operating expenses decreasing by $1 million versus prior year. Turning to page 10 in Q1, Harley-Davidson Financial Services's annualized retail credit loss ratio on managed loans was 3.6% which compares to 3.8% in the year ago period. We are pleased with Harley-Davidson Financial Services loan origination activities as total Retail loan originations in Q1 were up 14%, coming in at $671 million. In Q1, total gross financing receivables were $2.5 billion at the end of Q1, where retail receivables were $1.3 billion and commercial receivables were $1.2 billion. Now turning to Slide 11 for the LiveWire segment. For the first quarter of 2026, LiveWire revenue increased 87% over prior year driven by increases in electric motorcycle and Stasik brand electric balance bike units. Consolidated operating loss decreased by 11% resulting from improved gross profit and lower selling administrative and engineering expenses. In turn, this drove an improvement of over 25% in net cash used by operating activities in Q1 of 26 compared to Q1 of 25 for 2026. LiveWire's focus is heavily geared around the imminent launch of its S4 Honcho products, in particular continued network expansion, cost savings and improvements, and product innovation and development focused on products that will be profitable and positive drivers of cash flow. Now turning to slide 12 wrapping up with consolidated Harley Davidson Inc. Financial results we had net cash use of $228 million from operating activities in Q1, which compares to $142 million of operating cash in the prior year period. Operating cash flow was lower than the prior year due to reduced cash inflows at HDMC on lower wholesale shipments. Also at hdfs, the operating cash flow decreased due to reduced interest income and due to new originations of retail finance receivables under the forward flow arrangement that were classified as held for sale which is classified as an operating activity under US gaap. As a result, the originations to be sold to our strategic partners or outflows reduced cash flow from operations as there were no comparative retail finance receivable originations classified as held for sale in the first quarter of the prior year. This was partially offset by the inflows from the proceeds from the sale of retail finance receivables classified as held for sale. This will remain a distinct year over year item as we move through 2026 as a result of the Harley-Davidson Financial Services transaction which concluded throughout the second half of 2025. Total cash and cash equivalents ended Q1 of 2026 at 1.8 billion billion compared to $1.9 billion a year ago. As part of our share buyback strategy in Q4 of 2025 we entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement to repurchase $200 million of shares of the company's common stock as part of the ASR Agreement, we received $160 million or 80% of the notional worth of shares or 6.3 million shares delivered to us before December 31, 2025, with the remainder expected to be delivered in early 2026. On February 12, 2026, our ASR was concluded and we received an additional 3.1 million shares on February 13 of 2026. These shares had a value of $64.7 million considering the share price during the ASR's performance period. Beyond the ASR, the company also repurchased another 3.5 million shares on a discretionary basis for $63.3 million in the first quarter of 2026. Therefore, in Q1 we repurchased a total of 6.6 million shares worth $128 million on a discretionary basis. We note that since our Q2 of 2024 earnings announcement, where we also announced a Plan to repurchase $1 billion worth of our shares through 2026, that we have repurchased a total of 26.8 million shares. That is a total value of $726 million of Harley Davidson shares purchased. We are pleased with the performance and have decided to conclude reporting on this program as we look forward to aligning our capital allocation approach with the updated strategy that Artie and I will walk through shortly. Share buybacks remain an important part of our capital allocation strategy and you will hear more on this, including a refreshed and updated approach to capital return to shareholders as we enter the main riding season. We remain pleased with our dealer inventory levels and leading market share position in the US new model year 26 motorcycle launch including the new Limited Touring motorcycles and the all new redesigned Trike models. We are also pleased with the reception to a number of new, more affordable motorcycles which have a focus on critical price points to help stoke demand. While we are not changing our financial guidance, we would note that our optimism on the year has increased. This is due in large part to our retail results in North America and we are also pleased with the early actioning of our cost reduction work for the full year 2026. The company reaffirms its guidance and continues to expect at HDMC retail units of $130,000 to 135,000 and wholesale units of 130,000 to 135,000. We believe that global dealer inventory levels are healthy and therefore we expect retail and wholesale to have a largely one to one relationship in 2026. In line with my earlier comments versus prior year, we expect shipments to be higher in Q2, relatively flat in Q3 and then up again in Q4. At the same time, we continue to expect production units at HDMC to be lower than wholesale unit shipped in 2026. As we work to prudently manage overall company inventory levels for 2026, we expect this will have a deleverage impact which will put pressure on operating leverage and operating margin, but we expect to come into alignment by next year. In addition, we still expect to face a greater overall cost for incremental tariffs in 2026 compared to 2025 and which we covered in detail previously. As a reminder, in full year 2025 we incurred a cost of $67 million in new or increased tariffs and in 2026 we forecast a cost of between 75 million to $90 million of new or increased tariffs based upon current tariff levels and versus a 24 baseline. This is an update to the prior range we provided of 75 million to $105 million. At HTMC, we expect operating income of positive $10 million to a loss of of $40 million. At HDFS we expect operating income of 45 million to $60 million. As a reminder, the new Business model at HDFS Given the HDFS transaction where Harley Davidson Financial Services now employs a capital light de-risk business model and has a significantly changed financial earnings profile relative to before the transaction. For Livewire, we are forecasting an operating loss in the range of 70 million to $80 million and with that I'll turn it back to Artie to cover our strategic plan.
Artie Starrs
Now turning to our Strategic Plan for Harley Davidson. On behalf of our Harley Davidson community, Jonathan and I are excited to introduce our Back to the Bricks plan designed to reignite brand enthusiasm with riders around the world while driving profitable growth for our dealers and shareholders. It is grounded in the work we've done since October. We've spent significant time assessing the business, engaging deeply with dealers and riders and most recently through a global roadshow where we connected directly with the majority of our dealer network and all of our global dealer advisory councils. The Back to the Bricks plan will restore Harley Davidson and position the company for growth. First, we are intensely focused on leveraging Harley Davidson's competitive advantages, specifically brand diversified revenue channels and most notably parts and accessories and financing products and our dealer network. Second, we are leaning into a true win win model with our dealer network. Our dealers are not only our retail channel but the frontline builders of our Rider community. They are the true source of strength and a competitive advantage. When our dealers win, the enterprise wins and so do our shareholders. Third, we have already taken immediate actions to recapture share by better serving the large and community of riders where Harley Davidson has a clear right to win. Fourth, we're doing this from a position of strength and plan to leverage our balance sheet bolstered by cost and restructuring actions to enable both investment in the business and returns to shareholders. We are executing against a clear path to strong and growing free cash flow and EBITDA margin. And lastly, we brought on some great leadership talent to support the business as we enter this new chapter for the company. Moving to slide three there are really three things that define Harley Davidson. First, we are a 123 year young brand that designs and manufactures the best motorcycles in the world, combining iconic design, precision engineering and a look, sound and feel that is unmistakably Harley Davidson. Second, through our best in class dealer network, we serve a global community across segments we've helped define over decades. Our riders show up in powerful ways through HOG chapters, rallies, events and by giving back to their local communities. And third, maybe most importantly, is the culture of riding. Since starting at the company, I've spent time with riders and dealers at events, rallies and swap meets and what stands out is the emotional connection. Riders talk about their motorcycles, their rides and their community in deeply personal ways. For them, riding isn't just about getting somewhere, it's about the experience itself. The ride is the destination. Turning to Slide four we're in the midst of a bold restoration of the business to drive value for shareholders. What's clear is that our heritage remains a powerful advantage. Not something to preserve, but something to build from. It starts with our portfolio taking a step back. Over the last several years, we leaned heavily into touring and electric. Going forward, we are shifting to a more rider centric portfolio, one that is more accessible, more customizable and better aligned to the needs of the full spectrum of our riders. Touring will always remain our core. We're building clear pathways into the brand that support long term touring growth while also addressing other riding occasions and styles. Importantly, we can do this using our existing platforms, moving from too many of too few to a more balanced lineup. We're also adopting an enterprise profitability model, recognizing that our success is directly tied to the success of our dealers. When dealers win, we win. By aligning Harley Davidson and dealer economics, we can create more value for riders, stronger profitability for dealers and more dependable cash flow for shareholders. Come back to this in more detail shortly. Another key pillar is parts and accessories. Customization is at the heart of Harley Davidson, it's how riders make each bike their own. What we often think of as freedom for the soul, or more personally, freedom for your soul. We're reestablishing parts and accessories as a core growth driver, one where we have a clear right to win and in alignment with dealers, as this is an important component of their profitability. We're also reinforcing motor clothes and apparel growing from the core of the brand. On promotions, as inventory is normalized, we are shifting to a more targeted and disciplined approach. One that supports volume while protecting margins. An expanded portfolio will play an important role here as well. From an investment standpoint, we continue to see upside in existing platforms, particularly within Turing. But our near term focus is on executing better with the platforms we already have, rather than introducing entirely new ones. By leveraging our existing platforms and powertrain to bring new motorcycles to market, we are operating with a more capital efficient model. Finally, we've taken important steps to refocus our brand around our community as reflected in the launch of the ride marketing platform. Taken together, we believe these actions position us to revitalize the business by leaning into what has always made Harley Davidson strong and executing with greater clarity and and discipline. As you can see on slide 5, we've experienced a decline in retail volumes and that's had a direct and meaningful impact on both company and dealer performance. At the core of this is a loss of relevancy with riders, most notably with the exit of iconic motorcycles like the Sportster, which limited accessibility and contributed to lower volumes. Additionally, we are excited to introduce Sprint, the perfect entry for many, to the Harley Davidson brand. At the same time, as volumes declined, our cost base remained largely fixed. Putting pressure on margins and driving. A greater reliance on broad based promotions, particularly on higher priced motorcycles and importantly, lower throughput has had a direct impact on our dealers. Reducing traffic, compressing profitability and limiting the performance of key revenue streams like parts and accessories and service. All of this reinforces a critical point. Restoring profitable volume is central to improving overall performance. And that's exactly what our strategy is designed to address. Making the brand more accessible through a combination of portfolio changes, more targeted pricing and promotions and improved operational execution. Moving to slide 6, while recent performance has been impacted, the underlying market opportunity remains significant. We see meaningful white space in existing markets, areas where Harley Davidson has strong legacy equity and a clear right to win. Across new motorcycles, used motorcycles, parts and accessories and apparel, there is share of wallet that we were capturing as recently as 2019 that we are no longer capturing today. That creates a very direct opportunity to regain market share and do so in segments where our brand is already strong. Importantly, this strategy is not about entering new categories where we lack a competitive advantage. It's about doubling down on the categories we know where we have credibility, scale and deep rider connection. We believe this positions us to regain loss share while driving meaningful volume growth over time. Now turning to our Strengths on slide 7. The foundation of Harley Davidson is its legacy. An unparalleled brand with unique American heritage as recognized recently by USA Today as part of their 50 Iconic Brands that Shaped America series. Underpinned by a best in class dealer experience, deeply committed riders and craftsmanship that delivers something truly unique. When I first joined the company, those advantages were immediately clear and as we've looked more closely at the data, they've only become more compelling. We are one of the most recognized and esteemed brands in the category and in many ways we help define it. Our dealer network is a true competitive advantage, consistently delivering a best in class customer experience and serving as the front line of our brand. Our riders have an incredible affinity for Harley Davidson. They don't just buy our products, they live our brand. It's a level of loyalty and engagement that is difficult to replicate and all of this is anchored in superior craftsmanship and quality that continues to resonate strongly with our riders. Taken together, these strengths provide a powerful foundation as we execute our plan and move the business forward. Now, turning to our strategic roadmap on slide 8. Against the backdrop we've just discussed, we've developed a plan for the next several years that unfolds in three clear phases. First is the reset. This phase is already underway and focused on taking cost out right, sizing dealer inventory, strengthening our dealer relationships and rolling out the ride marketing platform. We're making progress across all these areas and today we'll provide an update on that momentum. Second is the growth phase. Beginning next year, you'll see a more expanded and balanced portfolio designed around what riders want while leveraging the full lifecycle of the motorcycle to unlock additional revenue streams. Parts and accessories will play a much larger role both in dealerships and as a core revenue driver. At the same time, we're refining our promotional approach to be more targeted, driving traffic and volume while preserving profitability. And third is the acceleration of value creation. As the portfolio becomes more accessible and better aligned to needs of our full spectrum of riders, we see opportunity to deepen ridership engagement. This includes greater participation in the used motorcycle ecosystem as well as further driving adjacent areas like apparel and licensing. With the foundation established in the first two phases. We believe we are well positioned to drive more sustainable enterprise growth and wider economic enterprise benefits. Turning to Slide 9 what are we doing right now? We've already begun putting this plan into action and we're encouraged by the early momentum as part of Phase one. Our actions on cost and inventory have been swift and effective. We've moved quickly to reduce headcount and take cost out of cost of goods sales, creating room to reinvest in key growth areas like parts and accessories. As we previously outlined, we expect to deliver at least $150 million in annual run rate cost savings that will impact 2027 and beyond versus 2025 levels. At the same time, we've made meaningful progress on inventory. Global retail inventory is now at a much healthier level, down significantly 22% year over year, but we still see opportunity to improve assortment and allocation at the dealer level. Importantly, these actions are starting to translate into results. We're seeing sales momentum return with retail growth and market share gains, including an 8% increase in global retail sales in Q1 2026. Now turning to our dealers on slide 10, the Harley Davidson dealer network is a clear competitive advantage and our strategy is intentionally designed to support and strengthen their profitability. I firmly believe this company will go only as far as our dealers take us. That's why dealer profitability is a central pillar of our plan. Since joining, I've spent a significant amount of time with dealers along with the broader leadership team, listening and learning directly from them. On the ground. Our focus is on earning their trust and ensuring they're confident and excited about the path forward. We've already taken action to through inventory rightsizing, better alignment on promotions and structural improvements to dealer programs. And we're not done. There are additional actions ahead that we expect to further strengthen dealer economics. Our objective is clear to materially improve dealer profitability over time, supporting a stronger, more stable network and enabling long term growth. As shown on the slide, we are targeting a meaningful step up in dealer profitability over the next several years. Moving to slide 11 it's important to understand the role dealers play in the Harley Davidson ecosystem. Dealer profitability is non negotiable and ultimately a win for shareholders. At the core, brick and mortar economics and frontline enthusiasm are directly linked. When our dealers are profitable, they can invest in their business, delivering a better rider experience at the point of interaction with our brand. Stronger dealer economics also reduced the need for discounting and OEM promotional support, helping preserve the premium positioning and long term health of the brand Dealers are not just our primary sales channel. They are a powerful marketing engine, building the brand in local communities at scale. When they are successful, we unlock the ability to invest more and more and rider growth through initiatives like Riding Academy, HOG engagement and events that deepen connection to the brand. And importantly, healthy dealer profitability attracts capital, bringing more investment into the network and supporting long term rider centric growth. Moving to slide 12, I want to spend a moment on the lens through which we're now viewing growth and profitability. We've done significant work to better understand how we make money as one enterprise. Harley Davidson and our dealers together. What's clear is that focusing solely on wholesale and retail motorcycle margins is an incomplete view. A motorcycle generates value over its entire life cycle across parts and accessories, service, finance and insurance, and ultimately the used market. And importantly, Harley Davidson and our dealers participate in that value at different points in time across multiple revenue streams. So going forward, we're managing the business against this broader enterprise economic model. By increasing new motorcycle volumes, we not only drive profit at the point of sale, we also expand the base of motorcycles in the market, which fuels downstream revenue across all of these channels. We believe this will create a more stable, diversified and sustainable earnings profile. Over time, it also changes how we think about the portfolio. We intend to bring motorcycles to market in a way that supports the full enterprise profit model, not just the economics of an individual launch, but or motorcycle. We expect this to reduce pressure on any single product and lead to more balanced performance across cycles. And importantly, the portfolio changes we're making, particularly around accessibility and customization play directly into this model. By supporting higher volumes and stronger lifecycle value over time, we plan for this to become a compounding growth engine. The return of Sportster and the introduction of new models like Sprint are great examples of how this approach will create value across the system. We're really excited to announce that our iconic Harley Davidson Sportster will be returning in 2027. This has been the most requested motorcycle from both our riders and our dealers and we're bringing it back better than ever. Sportster is a perfect embodiment of back to the bricks and it fits naturally within our enterprise economic model. For context, Sportster has historically been a middleweight, highly customizable motorcycle with an air cooled powertrain and accessible starting price point, making it an important entry to the Harley Davidson brand. While it was discontinued in 2022, it has remained incredibly strong in the used market, often retaining value at or above original msrp, which speaks to its enduring appeal. With its accessibility, we expect Sportster to drive higher volumes and with its customization potential, we expect strong attachment to parts and accessories as riders personalize their motorcycles. Beyond the motorcycle itself, Sportster also creates opportunity across apparel, licensing and the broader rider ecosystem. Importantly, it demonstrates how our strategy generates value across the full lifecycle from the initial sale to entry into the used market. Taken together, Sportster is a critical part of our plan to restore volume, strengthen our portfolio and drive long term enterprise value. We look forward to sharing more specifics later this year. Additionally, we're excited to bring Sprint to market beginning in the back half of 2026. This lightweight, customizable and accessible motorcycle provides a great entry to the brand for many riders. We are excited to be returning to a space that we haven't been in since the 1960s and we believe that the Sprint will provide a great starting point for riders to enter the brand as they progress through the portfolio. Over the coming periods, we will be providing more detail on how this aligns with our portfolio planning Lifetime Value creation moving to slide 15 and zooming out to a broader view of the portfolio, we are taking deliberate steps to realign the portfolio, making it more rider centric and better positioned to replicate the value creation cycle we just discussed across more models over the past few years. Pricing and portfolio decisions reduced accessibility for some riders, which contributed to lower volumes and ultimately pressure on profitability. We're addressing that directly. Going forward, you'll see a more balanced lineup across price points while still maintaining our premium positioning. We're also expanding the use of blank canvas motorcycles, which we know is a key differentiator for Harley Davidson, giving riders more opportunity to personalize their motorcycles through genuine parts and accessories. These changes are informed by deep analysis of the used market, direct dealer engagement and what we've learned from recent promotional activity. Importantly, we see clear gaps in the portfolio that we can address efficiently without starting from scratch. We're leveraging our existing platforms in Powertrain where we see significant room for growth, allowing us to expand the lineup without incremental capital investment. Taken together, this positions us to deliver what riders want, improve accessibility and drive stronger volume and lifecycle value across the portfolio. Now turning to parts and accessories on slide 16. This is one of our most important revenue channels and a significant growth opportunity. We believe there is a potential to drive 20 to 30% sales growth over time. We also recognize that we've under invested in this area in recent years. Customization is at the core of the Harley Davidson experience and a key driver of dealer profitability. No. 2 Harley Davidson motorcycles on the road are the same, and that's exactly how riders want it. So we've laid out a clear roadmap to rebuild our leadership in parts and accessories, leveraging our dealer network and existing manufacturing and supply chain capabilities. That starts with expanding our assortment, including reinstating approximately 30% of SKUs that were previously eliminated. We're also refocusing on core categories where Harley Davidson has historically been strong, like seats, exhaust lighting, windshields and handlebars, and pairing that with an increased emphasis on blank canvas motorcycles that are designed for personalization. Importantly, we're integrating parts and accessories into the motorcycle launch process, ensuring availability at launch, supported by HDFS financing and aligned dealer incentives. As we execute this, we expect stronger dealer performance, increased attachment rates and ultimately both revenue growth and margin expansion over time. Turning to slide 17, we're also refining our approach to promotions. Historically, our promotional activity has been broader and less targeted. More recently we used promotions to help reset elevated dealer inventory which while necessary, put pressure on profitability. Now, with inventory at healthier levels, we're shifting to a more disciplined and targeted approach focused on driving traffic and conversion at a lower cost. An important enabler of this is our expanding portfolio, which allows for more value based messaging across a broader range of products rather than relying on heavy discounting on a narrower mix. We're also strengthening our capabilities with recent hires who bring deep experience in performance marketing in automotive retail. And the launch of our Marketing development fund in 2025 is a key step in better aligning scale with more effective localized dealer messaging. Together, these efforts are improving how we manage incentive spending, driving more predictable growth while recognizing that many riders don't require heavy promotion to convert. The result is a more efficient model which we believe will support volume recovery while protecting margins. Now turning to our marketing approach on slide 18, last month we launched our new brand platform ride, which really brings everything together. It's built on a simple but powerful insight, joy and swagger. At its core, Ride celebrates the experience of riding and most importantly, our riders themselves. They and their motorcycles are the stars of the show. This reflects a broader shift in how we show up as a brand. We're moving toward more authentic, rider focused storytelling that reinforces the community and culture at the heart of Harley Davidson. We're also reallocating our marketing investments, moving away from a heavier E commerce spend and toward top of funnel brand building efforts to drive awareness and engagement. You may have even seen us recently on Wheel of Fortune. At the same time, we're making better use of tools like the Marketing Development Fund while upgrading our digital platforms and programs to support both global scale and local activation. And perhaps most importantly, the power of Ride is that it gives us a single unified voice while still allowing flexibility for riders and dealers around the world to bring the brand to life in their own way way. It connects all aspects of Harley Davidson from product to community to marketing under one cohesive platform. And as you can see on the slide, it creates a clear and flexible framework for how we bring the brand to life across riders, dealers and markets around the world. Over time. We expect this to drive stronger engagement, deeper relevance and ultimately growth. Now I'll hand it over to Jonathan to take you through the Financial section. Jonathan, over to you.
Jonathan Roof (Chief Financial and Commercial Officer)
Thanks Artie. Now turning to Our Financials on slide 21 all of the facets of the strategy we've just laid out support our financial growth trajectory over the next few years. We believe we have a clear path to achieving $350 million plus EBITDA in 2027. The path to get there is clear and execution driven, anchored by roughly $150 million in fixed cost reduction, better alignment between wholesale and retail volumes, the full impact of Sportster and Sprint, targeted expansion in high margin parts and accessories, and more effective disciplined promotions. Beyond 2027, the story doesn't stop. We expect continued strong growth driven by further cost absorption, a broader parts and accessories and motorcycle portfolio, incremental product improvement and smarter incentive execution. The bottom line is this is a structural step change in profitability with clear levers and meaningful upside ahead. Now on slide 22, we'll take a closer look at how we get there. This bridge outlines the key initiatives that will drive EBITDA improvement in the near term. The focus will be on cost reduction and operating leverage, which we see as the primary drivers of performance. With these actions already underway, we have a clear line of sight to achieving $350 million or more beyond 2027. Drivers for continued growth will include, but not be limited to, improvements in motorcycle margins and volume supported by growth in parts and accessories. Turning to our medium term targets on slide 23, we expect to return to sustainable growth across key metrics. We expect to achieve mid single digit retail unit growth over the medium term. As already discussed, this return to growth will be driven by the significant actions we are taking across our business. Furthermore, we expect the momentum in retail units and other enabling actions to drive mid single digit growth in parts and accessories and anl. Combined with the ongoing inventory rightsizing, we expect this return to growth to have a significant impact on dealer health. From a margin standpoint, we expect to drive significant improvement in gross margins approaching 30% while operating expenses as a percentage of sales decreased to less than 20% from the 25% in 2025 over the mid-term, we expect CAPEX to remain broadly in line with recent expenditure levels. In totality, we expect to deliver attractive top line growth and drive towards a 10 to 12% EBITDA margin over the medium term. These targets reflect a more balanced and resilient business model underpinned by the back to brick strategy. I'll now touch briefly on HDFS on slide 24. We believe that the business remains a highly strategic asset. Following the transaction, we have transitioned to a more capital light model while maintaining HDFS's role in supporting motorcycle sales and dealer financing. We recently held a call to discuss the HDFS business in greater detail, but at a high level. We expect HDFS to see improved returns while reducing capital intensity. We expect to continue to strengthen HDFS's leading position in powersports and intend to expand our high value finance and insurance product suite with optimized offers supporting motorcycle sales. In connection with our enhanced parts and accessories offerings, HDFS plans to leverage additional financing to drive parts and accessories sales. Lastly, we are also better training dealers to maintain the best in class penetration rate of HDFs. With all this in mind, we are targeting 125 to $150 million in operating income for the business by 2029. Turning to capital allocation on Slide 25, our priorities remain consistent. We will reinvest in the business where we see opportunities to drive growth across the key initiatives of our strategy. We also remain committed to returning capital to our shareholders through share buybacks and dividends. Additionally, we remain open to opportunistic value additive M and A and with that I'll hand it back to Artie.
Artie Starrs
Thank you Jonathan. To conclude, Harley Davidson is built on a strong foundation, an iconic brand, a deeply loyal rider base, a differentiated dealer network. We're excited about the path forward. Our dealers are energized and we're seeing real enthusiasm from the rider community around back to the bricks. This strategy is intentionally grounded in our core strengths and we're doubling down on what makes Harley Davidson unique, especially our dealer network. Importantly, execution is already underway and we're seeing early signs that our actions are delivering results. We're doing this from a position of strength with a solid financial foundation to support both investment in the business and returns to shareholders. And we have the right team in place, energized and equipped with the experience needed to deliver on this plan. We remain committed to working closely with our dealers every step of the way to create value for our riders and ultimately for our shareholders. Thank you for your time this morning. And with that, we'll take your questions.
OPERATOR
Thank you. And ladies and gentlemen, if you do have questions for today, all you need to do is to hit Star plus the followed followed by the number one on your telephone keypad for today. We'll take our first question from today. And that is from the line of Robin Farley from UBS. Your line is live.
Robin Farley (Equity Analyst)
Great. Thank you. Two questions, if I may. First is just wondering what medium term is 2029, medium term, just to kind of put a finer point on thinking about the targets. And then the other question is a little bit trickier with tariffs. Some of the bridge to your 2027 EBITDA is, is from I guess, lower tariffs lumped in with some other things. And so if you could just help us think about that, what you're expecting, what's factored in in terms of tariff refunds into, into that and, and your, Your full year 26 guidance was unchanged, but tariffs seem a little better. So maybe there's an offset there. And then just I don't know if the manufacturing for Sprint, if they're, if you're assuming tariffs on that, if that's going to be outside the US and potentially tariffs. So I know, I know that's a lot of tariffs balled up into one. But just whatever you want to address. Thank you.
Artie Starrs
Great, Robin, thank you. It's already appreciate the questions. I'll take the first one and then I'll let Jonathan handle the tariff specifics. When we said medium term, we mean three to five years. So hopefully that helps. And on the tariff piece, Jonathan.
Jonathan Roof (Chief Financial and Commercial Officer)
Yeah. So from a, so thank you, Robin. From a tariff standpoint, I think when you look at our 2026 estimate, we obviously have a midpoint of $83 million on, on that. If you look within the first quarter, we had $45 million in tariffs that were that were paid. That leaves $38 million. Again, just using the midpoint for simplicity, for the balance of the year, our viewpoint is that that tariff amount will consecutively decrease by quarter as we benefit from the current tariff structure that we laid out on our slides. So in, you know, effective Q2, as we got into April, there were some changes from an overall tariff philosophy perspective that were put out there. You see the benefits of those obviously that sort of accrues over time. We think that that sets us up for 2027. We're not providing 27 guidance at this point, but a 2027 that is arguably more attractive than where we are from a 2026 perspective. So you can infer and use some of your own judgment on where that lands from a tariff refund perspective. There's obviously a tremendous number of, of companies large and small across the United States that are working on tariff refund and approach to tariff refund right now. Obviously we will be working and following all of the guidelines that we need to from a tariff refund perspective. But a little difficult for us to talk through some of the specifics on timing and when all of those dollars will hit throughout the year. We certainly have a little bit of benefit baked into our expectations. But it's not a tremendous driver for us. It's really more as we look. What are the, what are the current tariff rules that are in place? How do we think that will accrue? And you see the benefit that we put in place from a guide perspective versus what we originally guided to for 2026.
Artie Starrs
Thank you. You're welcome.
OPERATOR
Thanks for your questions. Our next question comes from the line of James Hardiman with Citigroup. Your line is live.
James Hardiman (Equity Analyst)
Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. So two questions on sort of the back to bricks opportunity, I guess first, you know, when we talk to investors, you know, the thousand pound gorilla, fair or not, is, is sort of the demographic backdrop, right? Specifically lower popularity of motorcycling. If you think about younger generations, maybe relative to their, their baby boomer counterparts. Artie, obviously that's something that you've had to consider. How does the back to the bricks address that? You know, obviously you've got some market share recapture goals that are, that are pretty aggressive. Is there any concern that market share gains could be offset by category declines if those demographic headwinds persist? And I did have a follow up. If we could, we could, sure.
Artie Starrs
Well, James, thanks for your question. I think the biggest thing in this strategy back to the brics is we're prioritizing rider needs in a rider centric portfolio. So we specifically called out two examples of how we're doing that. The Sportster, one of our most iconic motorcycles. As recently as five, six years ago, the market for that motorcycle was 35 to 40,000 plus. On a global basis, our riders and many younger riders and our dealers have expressed it is the number one universal request from the motor company to deliver on a great Harley Davidson Sportster. And what we're talking about today is the 883. And so when I look at the demographics, how young people have always entered our brand. Over 123 years it has been motorcycles like the Sportster. And over the last 30 or 40 years, the Sportster has been a critical entry point to the brand. The second motorcycle is the Sprint. We have not had a motorcycle cycle like the Sprint in some time. We see it filling an important need in Riding Academy. As someone who recently went through Riding Academy, being able to get on a motorcycle and then buy that same or a similar motorcycle is a gap in our current portfolio which we're extremely enthusiastic about what the Sprint's going to do. And I'd remind you that the number of motorcycle licenses, at least in the United States right now is quite strong, as strong as it's been. And we see the opportunity for us as we present the brand. As you look at the marketing campaign, this concept of Joy and Swagger is something that we believe is and will resonate with young people. It's core to bringing young people into the brand over many, many years, which the brand had done successfully. So I'm quite optimistic. And the portfolio of motorcycles we're bringing forward I think addresses this. Well,
James Hardiman (Equity Analyst)
that's great. And it's a great sort of dovetail into sort of my follow up question. You know, obviously as we think about your medium term targets of mid single digit retail growth, most specifically, I think if investors felt comfortable with that number alone, this would probably be a 40 or $50 stock. Right. But help us, help us understand that target while factoring in the return of Sportster and the introduction of Sprint. How much of that retail growth is coming from those items? I'm just trying to understand sort of the organic versus the inorganic contributors to that mid single digit retail growth. Can you get to a place where the organic piece is also growing at a nice clip? Thanks.
Artie Starrs
Sure. So thanks for the question. The Sportster is, you know, is an important part and Sprint obviously complements it as well. I referenced the volumes on Sportster historically. I'll go back to. We, we feel that if we meet our riders where they're at, we can grow at these levels and beyond. I'm not going to give a specific number in terms of how much Sportster constitutes the amount of growth, but just based on historical numbers of Sportsters that have sold and projected number of Sprint, we believe that a significant portion of the growth will come from there. In addition to that, this concept of de contented or blank canvas motorcycles that we referenced in the presentation is something our dealers have been asking for and it does a couple things Number one is it leverages existing platforms and powertrains that we have and provides more accessibility across touring and Softail, which is extremely exciting. And I'll remind everybody that some of these things where in Q4 we took action with things like our solo introduction. They're already working.
Jonathan Roof (Chief Financial and Commercial Officer)
So some of the retail success that we saw in Q1 we've effectuated in these plants. So I'm very enthusiastic about growth in both cruising and touring with a more distributed and accessible portfolio of motorcycles. Sportster is a big part of it. And you know, given what's, what's sold historically in Sportster, I'm quite confident. And what's happening in the used marketplace on Sportster, if you look up in some of the used market channels, it's extremely exciting to, to see residuals maintain and it's difficult to get your hands on an 883 right now, which means there's a real need.
James Hardiman (Equity Analyst)
That's great, fellow, thanks.
Artie Starrs
Artie and James, go ahead.
Jonathan Roof (Chief Financial and Commercial Officer)
The one piece that I would add too is as you refer back to what was in the strategy deck, there's a page in there that talks through the multi year view of motorcycle and the ancillary revenue streams. And so as you listen to Artie talk through changes to the portfolio, some of the, some of the kind of early wins that we've been seeing with solo models and some of the benefits that our price point focus is beginning to drive, that obviously has showed up in the first quarter from a retail standpoint. So inside of Q1, we've demonstrated the benefit to the approach that has been laid out. And then from an overall strategy standpoint, as we think through a life cycle and lifetime view, we can really envision people moving through the portfolio. We can see the benefit that accrues to both Harley Davidson and our dealers that aligns with what Artie talked through. And that's what gives us so much confidence in where we're going with the midterm targets and what's been laid out there.
James Hardiman (Equity Analyst)
Thank you both. Good luck, guys.
OPERATOR
Thanks for your question. Thanks for your questions. Our next question is from the line of Joe Altobello with Raymond James. Your line is live.
Joe Altobello (Equity Analyst)
Thanks. Hey guys, good morning. Couple questions on the, on the category expansion here. You know, you talked about Sportster, talked about Sprint. It sounds like those are, you know, smaller bikes. Are there other sort of subcategories that you're looking to expand into as well, just beyond smaller CC engines? And then, you know, second question. You know, there's a reason why Sportster was discontinued. It was. It was hard to make money. So how is the economics of that bike changed? Thanks.
Artie Starrs
Great question, Joe. Thank you. Let me take the second one first. So our team has done an extraordinary job over the last couple of years working on this project, and we have the cost at a place that we're extremely comfortable against the expected MSRP that we referenced. More importantly is this enterprise profitability model that has been just a fantastic way for us to communicate with our dealers. And when you think about the value that a motorcycle like Sportster brings to bear, it's very exciting. When you look at the parts and accessories, relevancy and opportunity. When you look at the service revenue that brings through our dealerships, when you look at the used market that it feeds and maintains such strong residual values. So we're comfortable with the profitability of the motorcycle itself. However, we're extremely excited about how it juices the economics for the overall enterprise. To your first question, as it relates to other additions inside the portfolio, can expect to see and the slide in the materials that references some of the current holes in the portfolio. Those are examples of where our dealers, via our riders, have specifically asked for motorcycles from us that they expect from us and have gotten in the past. Some of these include maybe a little bit more content, and many of them include less content. But once again, we within existing families and with existing platforms and power trains, and I can't give much more detail than that. I will share one tease with you which you may have seen on social media, which you can expect from us to continue to do, and that's to get feedback from riders at the moment, tried show here in Milwaukee, subsequently at Daytona and then the MotoGP race in Austin, we teased a modern expression of our iconic cafe racer, and it's got an extraordinary buzz and feedback from our riding community. And I think that would be the type of motorcycle that is still, you know, large in terms of, you know, large displacement powertrain that you can expect us to get feedback from, from riders and, you know, you might see that from us in the market, but we're very excited about the response to it.
Joe Altobello (Equity Analyst)
It's very helpful already. If I could just quickly follow up on that. You know, the US Market for you has, you know, outpaced international for quite some time. Is the, is the Sportster, is the, you know, the sprint part of that strategy that to grow your international business,
Artie Starrs
the Sportster is number one request from global dealers. If you, if you walked into our dealership in Shanghai, if You walked into our dealership in Louisville, Kentucky. If you walked into a dealership in Frankfurt, Germany and you asked the dealer or sales team lead in those dealerships, what can the, what can Harley Davidson do for you? You would hear bring back the Sportster. So yes, but it is, it's global truth in terms of the enthusiasm around that bike.
Joe Altobello (Equity Analyst)
Okay, thank you.
OPERATOR
Thanks for your questions. Our next question is from the line of Andrew Dodora with Bank of America. Your line is live.
Andrew Dodora (Equity Analyst)
Hey, good morning everyone and thanks for taking the questions. Just kind of change gears a little bit down to HDFs. Jonathan, the $125 to $150 million op income target, I guess you know what kind of, I know the business has changed here, I guess. What kind of receivables balance do you kind of anticipate growing to over, you know, through that timeframe? And then more importantly, just the revenue breakdown of HDFs. How should we think about maybe just interest income contribution versus the more kind of fee based services income as the segment grows?
Jonathan Roof (Chief Financial and Commercial Officer)
Hey Andrew, thank you for your question. So I'll start with a little session that we put out a couple of weeks ago on HDFS that really walked through that business, the different revenue streams of that business in a little bit more detail than obviously what we've covered here in earnings. That's probably a good refresher in terms of where that business goes as we move forward and what we're seeing obviously from a revenue stream perspective in terms of where we are. We have, we, you know, we did at the end of last year sell off the back book as we've covered and then on a, on a go forward basis, we continue to service those loans. So important that we are continuing to make sure that we are retaining the customer focus on the interaction and then a lot that we think we can do as we think through how we move those customers through the portfolio over time in the way that we're marketing to them on a near term basis, we obviously will make sure that for any originations that we have from this point going forward, we retain a third of those originations on our balance sheet and then two thirds we have the ability to sell off to our partners. We continue to service all of those loans. So over time the fee income associated with servicing is something that continues to grow. We also retain the revenue streams fully relative to protection products. We also retain the revenue streams fully relative to card card products and what we do from a card perspective. And then we also fully retain everything from a wholesale and commercial loan standpoint so dial in or tune into the recording that's available on our IR website that'll walk through that in more detail. A couple of other pieces that I would call out. From an HDFS standpoint, we're really pleased with what we're seeing on our managed annualized retail credit losses. So we have a page inside of the Q1 deck that highlights the year over year over year improvement in in credit losses. So pretty excited that we have Q1 26 kind of back below where we were not only in Q1 of 25, but Q1 of 24. So overall, I think the dynamics of the business are performing pretty well. We obviously have provided the 125 to 150 guide with the viewpoint that that is a more capital light model versus the way that we've run historically. So while the operating income is at a different level, we're really excited about the return that that generates for our shareholders and obviously frees up a lot of capital for us to remain committed to the shareholder priorities that we put out there from a capital allocation standpoint. So hope that helped.
Andrew Dodora (Equity Analyst)
Okay, thank you. And I know, Jonathan, you mentioned in your prepared remarks, like, interested in opportunistic M and A. Just curious, kind of, what could that entail? Is that more on manufacturing capability or brand side? Just curious there. Thank you.
Artie Starrs
Yeah, Andrew, it's Artie. I think we would look at any M and A as something that would accelerate the core areas of growth that we've laid out in the strategy. So anything that could drive dealer profitability would certainly be of interest. Parts and accessories would certainly be on the table. It was listed as the third thing right now. So it's not a top priority for us. But we do want to call out that anything that would make us stronger and allow us to drive the strategy faster, we would consider.
OPERATOR
Thanks for your questions. Our next question is from the line of Molly Baum with Morgan Stanley. Your line is live.
Molly Baum (Equity Analyst)
Hi. Thanks so much for taking our question. I kind of wanted to ask maybe one or two about the affordability dynamics right now for your customers. You made a comment in the prepared remarks about how many riders aren't requiring or don't require heavy promotion to convert. So can you maybe talk about elasticity for motorcycle buyers at present and what you were seeing from a promotional standpoint in 1Q and maybe even in right after you cleared through some of the heavy inventory levels and then just how you're thinking about affordability more broadly in the current environment and going forward. Thanks.
Artie Starrs
Yeah, thanks, Molly. Yeah. On affordability I really look at it as accessibility. So it's certainly price is a part of it, but also meeting riders where they're at and filling their needs with our portfolio. So when we look at Q1, you know, we were pleased certainly with how the promotions restored the dealer network to healthier inventory levels and that was focused on Model Year 25 touring. But we were also pleased with motorcycle sales that weren't promoted. And it demonstrated to us in some of the maybe more modest tweaks we made with the 26 launch in action in Q4. In going forward, having more options available to riders is important. Certainly is price, but also features and benefits. The phrase I'm using internally is we've had too many of too few models on dealer floors and by using and leveraging existing powertrain, existing platforms, we can have a much broader assortment of motorcycles to present across. You know, certainly Sprint and Sports are good examples, but even within legacy cruising, touring. And what excites me about this is we're going to be more nimble as it relates to promotional activity. If you think about the promotions in Q1, we had a challenge, we actioned it on model year 25 touring. But going forward, we will have more diversity within the touring lineup where we can be a bit more surgical and segmented on which motorcycles we may have to promote at various points in time and maintain healthier margins on the balance, so to speak. It's something dealers have asked for and we're going to be delivering on that as part of our go forward plans.
Molly Baum (Equity Analyst)
Great. And maybe if I could ask one, follow up on the dealer profitability piece. You had talked a little bit about last quarter about some immediate changes you made with the fuel facility model adjustments, changes to E Commerce strategy. Can you kind of talk about how much of the, you know, doubling profitability by 26, doubling again by 29, how much of that is, you know, kind of improving the cost base, getting excess inventory out of the system versus how much is structural from these, you know, strategy changes that you're making.
Artie Starrs
What we put in place in Q4 and what is in place currently we believe is, you know, appropriate. You know, there's, there's, there's always the chance that there's, you know, small adjustments that we would align with our dealers on. But the back to the brics plan and the targets that we put forward, do not contemplate a change in the structural arrangement with our dealers. The E Commerce strategy that we made tweaks to in Q4 as part of the go forward plans, we instituted a marketing development fund which is in place right now. So there's no structural change that no material structural change that's contemplated in driving the profitability. It's inventory. It's the right motorcycles at the right time with a rider centric portfolio and certainly leaning into this marketing campaign we think is going to pay a lot of dividends.
Molly Baum (Equity Analyst)
Thanks so much.
Jonathan Roof (Chief Financial and Commercial Officer)
I think, Molly, the piece that's worth adding on the dealer profitability side of the equation too is that obviously volume and throughput makes a pretty meaningful change in their bottom line. So as we think through the, again, going back to the strategy and the page that we, that we built out, that really helps you envision all of the different revenue streams for both Harley Davidson and our dealers. That's pretty important, Paige, to envision the way that we're running the business as we move forward. And so through that, the targets that we have on the mid single digit growth rates that you're seeing are really, really important for us and the benefits that accrue to our shareholders and they are equally important for our dealers. And then in addition, as you see us really double down on our growth surrounding P and A, not only do you see P and A benefit from an overall revenue and margin standpoint, but inside of the dealer side of the equation, it does also drive some really nice service growth. So we're pretty excited about the way that we actually get our dealers back to something that we think is a much healthier and much better way to run their business.
Molly Baum (Equity Analyst)
Got it. Thank you.
OPERATOR
Thank you for your questions. Our next question is from the line of Christian Thomas Martin with BMO Capital Markets. Your line is live.
Christian Thomas Martin (Equity Analyst)
Hey, good morning. I just want to kind of circle back to two questions that were asked previously. First, just in terms of the Sprint, my understanding is it's being built overseas. So how do you of recent tariff changes regarding imports potentially impact pricing on that? And then have you, could you provide a breakdown of your mid year medium term retail kegger like your expectations for us versus global markets?
Artie Starrs
Sure, Tristan, I'll take, I guess I'll take both of those. As it relates to Sprint, we're finalizing the specific production plans. We did call out that Sportster, you know, us sportsters will be made in York in our York, Pennsylvania facility. And obviously we're pleased with the revised guidance that we put forward on tariffs for 26 and we do contemplate based on current expectations that we have some favorability in tariffs going into 27 across the portfolio.
Christian Thomas Martin (Equity Analyst)
And I'm sorry, the second question was in terms of CAGR on US versus international.
Artie Starrs
We're not breaking that out. I will tell you that. There's not a material change, us versus International, primarily because the motorcycles that we're talking about here and the rebalancing of the portfolio and filling in the holes are similar globally. So we generally have the same portfolio around the world right now, as I mentioned, the dealer request and enthusiasm around Sportster in particular and motorcycles that are raw blank canvas and allow for parts and accessories, genuine parts and accessories, additions to them are globally wanted. And so we don't have, I'd say, a material difference in growth trajectory by market.
Christian Thomas Martin (Equity Analyst)
Okay. And one, follow up on kind of the aftermarket plan. I'm not sure if I'm reading between the lines correctly, but are you. Is there going to be more focus on dealership kind of aftermarket add ons versus factory aftermarket or kind of factory add ons? Thanks.
Artie Starrs
You mean parts and accessories in our dealerships and some customization at the dealership level? Yes, yes. So what we're saying is we expect to have more motorcycles in the portfolio that are maybe more approachable from a price perspective and have less accessories on them. And then our dealerships would be equipped with the P and A to personalize them for the riders, which is consistent with what the brand has done over many, many years. So it's frankly leaning into a legacy strength where P and A has maybe not been as a focus for us with many of our motorcycles, in particular large touring motorcycles, having a fair amount of content.
Christian Thomas Martin (Equity Analyst)
Great. Thank you.
OPERATOR
Thank you for your question. Our next question is from the line of David McGregor with Longbow Research. Your line is live.
David McGregor (Equity Analyst)
Yes, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I guess the question is on Livewire and just, you know, the role that Livewire plays in this product portfolio envision and just if it is sort of something you are considering staying with, just how we should think taking maybe that three to five year outlook you'd expressed earlier, just, you know, with the use of cash for that business over the next three to five years. Thanks.
Artie Starrs
Yes, David, thank you. This is Artie. The first thing I'll say is we're excited about the Livewire team's efforts this year and the pending launch of the Honcho bike, which is, I think an interesting and exciting addition to the portfolio. And we'll be monitoring that closely rest of the year to see how that does. But we're very excited to see how that comes to market. I'll repeat what I shared on previous earnings as it relates to Livewire. You know, we funded the loan in the back half of 2025, and, you know, that's. That's our outstanding capital commitment. And we don't have intentions to fund the business, you know, directly from Harley Davidson at this point in time.
David McGregor (Equity Analyst)
Is there a way that you can influence demand? I mean, you're talking about creating a higher level of interest. Back to James. Questions with demographics, and I'm just wondering if there's a way that you can shape demand as well on the electric front or you feel like there's steps you could take to maybe create a higher level of engagement.
Artie Starrs
Yeah, we're focused on this back to the bricks plan and driving dealer profitability and getting the portfolio in a place that we think riders want from us. Kareem and his team are focused on the. On the electric side of the house at this time.
David McGregor (Equity Analyst)
Thanks very much.
Jonathan Roof (Chief Financial and Commercial Officer)
And David, one piece that I would add, David, on the kind of demand influence is that through what you would have seen with what we delivered in Q1. We certainly believe that when we get the right alignment on marketing promo and kind of how we run that we can drive traffic to dealers and we can drive higher close rates. You heard Artie talk about, I think one piece that always sticks with me from an Artie perspective is too many of too few. And you heard him reference that earlier on the call today. When we think through where the portfolio is going and some of the pieces that we have the ability to drive, we're really excited. As the product portfolio becomes a little bit more nuanced in terms of what we're putting into market, we can lean into a lot of the strategies that we've really demonstrated some good success with and do that in a much more targeted way. So pretty excited about where we're going from the midterm. As we think about both what we've demonstrated within Q4 of last year, Q1 of this year, and then with what we've lined up from a strategy perspective where we're going. So excited to see that kind of demonstrated ability that we've put in market so far and how that aligns with the strategy that's built out.
David McGregor (Equity Analyst)
Do you have goals in place for building dealer support for Livewire?
Jonathan Roof (Chief Financial and Commercial Officer)
The Livewire team is certainly working on their approach to how they manage their dealer relationship.
David McGregor (Equity Analyst)
Thanks very much. Good luck.
OPERATOR
Thanks for your questions. Our next question is from the line of Brandon Rolay with Loop Capital. Your line is live. Good morning.
Brandon Rolay (Equity Analyst)
Thank you for taking my questions first. Just on the dealer profitability improvement. Would you be able to size the headwind from maybe a more standardized rebate program to HDMC margins? Thanks, Brandon. You're talking about HD1 rewards and the holdback? Yeah, I think under the previous management team they had of made the rebate program or rewards program a little more difficult to pull back some margin into the company. So it seems like, you know, that's going back out to dealers. And I was wondering if you're able to size the headwind, if any, to HDF or HTMC margins.
Artie Starrs
Yeah, I would characterize the headwind as modest over a medium term period. The previous holdback was variable, so it was based on sales targets and this is fixed. I wouldn't characterize it as it's not the primary driver of the profitability improvements that we're experiencing or forecasting. It's a small amount on a year over year basis, but it's not the primary amount. The larger impact which I heard consistently from our North American dealers both in the fall and again on a recent roadshow was the predictability was so important. Predictability of having the fixed holdback was critical in terms of staffing levels, being able to project cash flow throughout the year. And I think it's just an example of us understanding our dealers businesses and, you know, respecting what they need to run their business well and service our riders well. And so, so I'm pleased where we are and where we are today is precisely what we've modeled going forward.
Brandon Rolay (Equity Analyst)
Okay, great. And just one last one. On your US dealer network, how do you feel about the current size of the network? Obviously there's been a lot of dealer consolidation over the last few years. Do you feel like the dealer network's at the right size or are you going to continue to kind of, I guess move away from inefficient dealers and you know, I guess not shrink the dealer network, but, you know, maybe make it stronger. Thank you.
Artie Starrs
We're always looking for ways to make the dealer network stronger. And we love the fact that we have individual, you know, maybe smaller dealer owners, dealer principals in certain markets. And we, we also feel privileged to have some larger entities that own groups of dealerships. And I think the strength of our brand is a balance of both. One of the amazing things about Harley Davidson dealerships is we have dealerships along these iconic rides where families in some cases have owned these dealerships for decades, in some cases 70, 80, 90 years, and extremely proud of that. And at the same time we had, you know, recent, you know, acquirers in the market where some of our larger, largest and some of our most profitable dealer owners are getting bigger in the system. And I love them all. We're committed to having a healthy dealer network and we're not precious about size. We're precious about dealers that are enthusiastic about our brand and serve riders well.
Brandon Rolay (Equity Analyst)
Great. Thank you.
OPERATOR
Thanks for your question. Ladies and gentlemen, we have time for a final question from the line of Jamie Katz with Morningstar. Your line is live.
Jamie Katz
Thanks for squeezing me in. I will make it quick. I guess most of the profit improvement that you guys have, a lot of it looks like it's coming from leverage within SG&A. But can you talk a little bit more specifically about the top opportunities that are being targeted for cost reduction this year just so we can get a better idea of where that low hanging fruit is coming from. Thanks.
Jonathan Roof (Chief Financial and Commercial Officer)
Yeah. Hi Jamie, thank you for your question. Yeah, so it's obviously a balance of some headcount and then obviously some non headcount related costs and then also some cost of goods related actions. Our teams have done a fantastic job in Q1 at identifying areas. We've obviously done a significant amount of both competitive benchmarking, but also what's the right thing for Harley Davidson and ensuring that we can grow going forward. We're not going to provide detail beyond that at this time, but we're very confident in the targets that we put forward and specifically the $150 million plus that we've earmarked for 27 and beyond.
Jamie Katz
Okay, and then just quickly, I know there was some gross margin impact by pricing and mix. Is there any way to think about how those are trending over the remainder of the year? Just sort of from where you stand today. Thank you.
Artie Starrs
Yeah, Jamie, I'll let Jonathan take that one.
Jonathan Roof (Chief Financial and Commercial Officer)
Okay, thank you, Jamie. So as we look at pricing and mix and sort of Compare that to Q1, you know, relative stability. I think as we look through Q2, Q3 and Q4, you did hear in the Q1 financial comments a little bit more information relative to timing. So take a listen to that call in terms of how we talked about year over year quarters and what you see there. So from an overall pricing mix perspective, pretty flat to kind of a little bit, a little bit of favorability in the balance of the year, year. As we look at what's coming, we're pretty excited about what we're going to be introducing and you'll see some of the impacts from that. Please take a listen to what we talked about from a timing standpoint that'll be important as you're thinking through what our trajectory is going to look like for the year and then you will see a little bit less of an impact from incentive related activity. So as we've talked about we were pretty aggressive in what we did from Q1. From a Q1 standpoint we're really pleased with where we landed dealer inventory and so we think that really set us up for a very successful balance of the year and hopefully that sort of helps address your question.
OPERATOR
Thanks thank you for your thank you for your questions and ladies and gentlemen that will close down our Q and A session for today. Artie I'd like to turn it back over to you for any closing comments.
Artie Starrs
Well thank you everybody Appreciate you participating in today's call and hopefully you can tell how enthusiastic our team is and I am in particular about our path forward and we look forward to updating on our progress and we'll talk to you next earnings. Thank you.
Disclaimer: This transcript is provided for informational purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, there may be errors or omissions in this automated transcription. For official company statements and financial information, please refer to the company's SEC filings and official press releases. Corporate participants' and analysts' statements reflect their views as of the date of this call and are subject to change without notice.
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