Acushnet Holdings Corp. 2026 Q2 Earnings Call

Please go ahead. Good morning, everyone.

Thank you for joining us today for Acushnet Holdings Corp.'s second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Joining me this morning are David Maher, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Sean Sullivan, our Chief Financial Officer. Before turning the call over to David, I would like to remind everyone that we will make forward-looking statements on the call today. These forward-looking statements are based on Acushnet's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations. For a list of factors that could cause actual results to differ, please see today's press release, the slides that accompany our presentation, and our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Throughout this discussion, we will make reference to non-GAAP financial measures, including items such as net sales on a constant currency basis and Adjusted EBITDA.

Explanations of how and why we use these measures and reconciliations of these items to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in the schedules in today's press release, the slides that accompany this presentation, and in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Please also note that references throughout this presentation to year-on-year net sales increases and decreases are on a constant currency basis unless otherwise stated, as we feel this measurement best provides context as to the performance and trends of our business. When referring to year-to-date results or comparisons, we are referring to the six-month period ended June 30th, 2026, and the comparable six-month period in 2025. With that, I'll turn the call over to David.

Thanks, Cameron. Good morning, everyone. We are pleased to report on Acushnet's strong second quarter and first half results, highlight the investments we are making to strengthen the company for the future, and outline the puts and takes within our second half outlook. For the second quarter, Acushnet delivered worldwide net sales of $820 million, a 14% increase over last year, driven by strength and momentum within Titleist golf equipment and steady gains from FootJoy and Golf Gear. This growth contributed to a 46% increase in Adjusted EBITDA, which while healthy on its own merits, also reflects the net benefit from tariff refunds. For the first half, Acushnet net sales of $1.57 billion are up 10% over last year, with growth in all reportable segments and regions. Adjusted EBITDA of $353 million represents a 25% increase in the period.

Fueling these results, the Acushnet team remains focused on the game's avid, dedicated golfer and enthused about healthy industry fundamentals and growing participation. First half rounds of play are projected to be up low single digits with growth in the U.S., Japan, and Korea, offset by modest declines in Europe, which comped against an outsized weather related increase in 2025. As Sean will note, we are making strategic investments in Acushnet's future with focus on golf ball manufacturing and golf club assembly capacity, enhanced customization and automation capabilities, and our global technology platforms. Getting to our segment results, you see continued momentum in our Titleist golf equipment business, which grew 14% in the first half. Golf clubs set the pace up 43% in the quarter and 24% for the half, led by the successful launch of our new GTS line of metals.

Noteworthy is the good work by our team to accelerate product development and production timelines to move this launch from Q3 into the seasonal peak of Q2. While GTS is the headline within golf clubs, successful new Vokey Design SM11 wedges and Titleist irons also contributed to our growth in the first half. Titleist golf balls also posted a strong half with revenues up 6%, led by Pro V1 growth on top of the challenging comp against last year's launch volumes. On the PGA TOUR, Titleist golf balls have 22 wins to date, 18 more than the nearest competitor, as this pyramid of influence, validation, and success helps to fuel our golf ball momentum in the marketplace. Within the Titleist golf equipment segment, we continue to fuel our success and momentum with our strong commitment to fittings and value-added consumer connections across regions.

Acushnet's Golf Gear segment is also in good shape, growing 6% in the half, led by double digit gains in Titleist gloves, bags, and our Club Glove travel brand. FootJoy delivered 3% growth in the quarter, led by strong footwear sales, and is up 1% for the half. FJ's underlying fundamentals continue to strengthen with increased focus on premium performance franchises Premiere, HyperFlex, and Pro/SL, generating a favorable product mix shift within footwear and similar trends with FJ apparel, which are helping to offset softness in Japan and Korea. Finally, net sales of products not allocated to a reportable segment were up also with continued momentum and growth from shoes in the U.S. and GBNI. Now looking at our business by region on slide five, you see that all regions increased on a constant currency basis in the second quarter and first half.

Acushnet's U.S. sales were up 15% in the quarter, driven by growth in Titleist golf equipment and the benefits from healthy rounds of play and strong engagement from our core dedicated golfer base.

EMEA was up 12%, reflecting growth in Titleist golf equipment and Golf Gear. Japan was up 31%, driven by Titleist golf equipment, notably golf clubs, and continued strength in golf balls. Korea was up 7% in the quarter, also driven by golf equipment and the accelerated GTS metals launch and double-digit footwear gains. Rest of world was up 15% versus last year's second quarter, led by outsized growth in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and China. Now looking forward to the second half. Acushnet is well-positioned for the peak summer playing season, and we point to the overall health of the golf industry and our core consumer as baselines for our outlook.

It is worth noting that second half comps will be impacted by the timing shift associated with our GTS launch into Q2 and the upcoming transition within golf balls as we prepare and build inventories to support our 2027 Pro V1 launch. This club timing makes for a meaningful change to our typical club cadence, while the Pro V1 transition is anticipated to unfold similar to prior every other year launches. In summary, golf industry fundamentals are in good shape, participation is durable and positive trending, and we are pleased with our momentum and new product pipelines as we look to the future. As always, we appreciate the commitment and good work of our associates and supportive partners as we work together to provide golfers with leading product and service experiences. Thanks for your interest this morning. I will now pass the call over to Sean.

Thank you, David. Good morning, everyone. We had a solid second quarter and first half to start 2026, driven by continued momentum in Titleist golf equipment, including the successful launch of our GTS drivers and fairways. Second quarter net sales were up 14% and Adjusted EBITDA was $209 million, up $66 million from last year's second quarter. These results include IEEPA tariff refunds, which represented an approximately $38 million benefit to Adjusted EBITDA, net of the impact on incentive compensation. For the first half of 2026, net sales increased 9.5% and Adjusted EBITDA increased 25%. Excluding the net refund benefit, Adjusted EBITDA increased 12% in the first half, ahead of our expectations of high single-digit growth in both net sales and EBITDA during the first half as second quarter GTS metal shipments were greater than anticipated.

Gross profit in the second quarter of $446 million was up $92 million compared to 2025. The increase reflected the portion of the net IEEPA tariff refund recognized in gross profit, as well as higher sales volumes and average selling prices in Titleist golf equipment, partially offset by approximately $11 million of incremental tariff expense in the quarter versus prior year. Second quarter gross margin of 54.4% was up 520 basis points, while first half gross margin was 50.9%, up 230 basis points versus prior year. Excluding the net tariff refund benefit, first half gross margin was 48.1%, down 50 basis points year-over-year. It's worth noting that the first half tariff expense was approximately $29 million more than the first half of 2025.

SG&A expense of $246 million in the quarter increased $24 million from 2025 as we continue to invest in our fitting network, IT systems, and A&P to support new product launches and future growth, as well as recognizing higher incentive compensation expense related to tariff refunds. Interest expense of $12 million in the quarter was down $3 million due to a decrease in interest rates, as well as interest income on tariff refunds, partially offset by an increase in borrowings. Our effective tax rate in Q2 was 23.6%, up from 19.9% last year, primarily driven by changes in our jurisdictional mix of earnings and a reduced income tax benefit related to the U.S. deduction on foreign derived intangible income. Moving to our balance sheet and cash flow highlights. The strength in our balance sheet and cash flow supports the continued execution of our capital allocation strategy.