Thor Industries Q3 Earnings Miss Expectations

reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter on Thursday. The Elkhart, Indiana-based company posted quarterly net income of $62.8 million, or $1.17 per share, compared to $55.1 million, or $1.03 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, the company's earnings rose 16 percent to $1.19 per share. Its sales from continuing operations climbed 12 percent year-over-year to $1.17 billion from $1.05 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.21 per share on revenue of $1.17 billion. Towable RV sales climbed 15 percent year-over-year to $919.4 million for the third quarter, while Motorized RV sales gained 4 percent to $254.9 million. Gross profit margins for the quarter widened to 14.2 percent, versus 13.6 percent in the year-ago period. On April 30, 2015, consolidated backlog was $726.8 million, versus $820.2 million at April 30, 2014. "We were pleased with our strong third-quarter results, which exceeded even the solid performance we achieved in the third quarter of fiscal 2014," said Bob Martin, Thor President and CEO. "The record results for the quarter reflect the great efforts of our entire team combined with the ongoing growth of the RV market. In the near term, the market for some higher-end products remains soft, while dealers focus on inventory management as they sell through units delivered earlier in the year." Thor Industries shares dropped 1.43 percent to close at $61.45 during regular trading hours.