By Senad Karaahmetovic
Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) shares are trading about 4% down in pre-market Thursday after the company said its finance head Gina Goetter is stepping down at the end of April.
David Viney, Vice President - Treasurer will serve as Interim Chief Financial Officer until the search for a new CFO is concluded. Goetter is leaving to join Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) as CFO effective May 18, 2023.
"I would like to thank Gina for her many contributions to Harley-Davidson since joining the Company in 2020 - we wish her well in her next endeavor," said Jochen Zeitz, Chairman, CEO and President, Harley-Davidson.
BofA analysts cut the price target on HOG stock to $55 per share, from the prior $65, but noted that Goetter leaving is likely not related to issues at the company.
“We believe this move reflects a broader role and compensation opportunity for Goetter rather than issues at HOG given that we believe this opportunity emerged recently,” the analysts said.
“HOG did not reiterate their F23 guide however we believe their strategy remains on track despite what we believe was a slower start to the dealer network in 1Q in part due to unfavorable weather & some slowdown beginning in Feb. due to the higher rate environment.”
On a more negative note, UBS analysts said the retail declines in Q1 "could be worse than low expectations."
"We believe HOG retail sales at US dealers could be down close to -20% for Q1, which suggests a worsening retail environment even in the seasonally more important month of March. Those disappointing sales are even with the benefit of HOG offering some borrowers interest rates of 3.99% and 2.99% including some dealer buy-downs in Q1, and despite the fact that we believe March 2022 may have been down worse than Jan-Feb last year, so that March this year had an easier comp and still declined more," the analysts explained in a note.
HOG stock is down 10.2% year-to-date (YTD).