Acushnet Hldgs Q2 2026 Earnings Call: Complete Transcript

Acushnet Hldgs (NYSE: GOLF ) reported second-quarter financial results on Thursday. The transcript from the company's second-quarter earnings call has been provided below. This transcript is brought to you APIs. For real-time access to our entire catalog, please visit for a consultation.

Access the full call at Summary Acushnet Holdings reported strong financial results for the second quarter of 2026, with net sales of $820 million, a 14% increase year-over-year, driven by growth in Titleist Golf Equipment and FootJoy. 57 billion with growth across all segments and regions. Strategic investments are being made in golf ball manufacturing, golf club assembly capacity, and technology platforms to support future growth. 675 billion and expects adjusted EBITDA of $450 to $470 million, factoring in a $30 million benefit from tariff refunds.

Management highlighted the strong performance of the GTS golf club line and continued success of Titleist golf balls, particularly the Pro V1, with significant wins on the PGA Tour. Full Transcript OPERATOR Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to Acushnet Hldgs 2Q26 earnings call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session.

If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Cameron Volmuth, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Cameron Volmuth, Director of Investor Relations Good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us today for Acushnet Hldgs 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 Hldgs current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations. 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. 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.

And when referring to year-to-date results or comparisons, we are referring to the six-month period ended June 30, 2026 and the comparable six-month period in 2025. With that, I'll turn the call over to David. David Maher, President and Chief Executive Officer Thanks, Cameron, and good morning everyone. We are pleased to report on Acushnet Hldgs 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 Hldgs 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. 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. , Japan, and Korea offset by modest declines in Europe, which comped against an outsized weather-related increase in 2025. And as Sean will note, we are making strategic investments in Acushnet Hldgs 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. And while GTS is the headline within golf clubs, successful new Vokey 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. The Acushnet Hldgs 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. And 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—Premier, 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. S. and GB&I. Now looking at our business by region on slide 5, you see that all regions increased on a constant currency basis in the second quarter and first half.

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. And Rest of World was up 15% versus last year's second quarter, led by outsized growth in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and China. And now looking forward to the second half, Acushnet Hldgs 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. Sean S.

Sullivan, EVP Chief Financial Officer 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. 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 metals 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. 9%, up 230 basis points versus prior year. 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. 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. Our focus remains on investing in the business to support long-term growth and returning capital to shareholders. 25 times. Inventories were flat when compared to last year's second quarter, and we remain comfortable with our inventory quality and position.

First half cash flow from operations increased $76 million from the first half of 2025, driven in part by tariff refunds received in Q2. Capital expenditures were $37 million in the first half of 2026, up $12 million from last year, as we continue to invest strategically in additional golf ball manufacturing capacity and increased club assembly to support the sustained strength of demand for our products around the world. We still expect full year free cash flow to meaningfully improve year over year, converting at roughly 40% to 50% of adjusted EBITDA.

Through June we returned roughly $57 million to shareholders, with $31 million in cash dividends and $26 million in share repurchases. Today our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 25 and a half cents per share, payable on September 18th to shareholders of record on September 4th, 2026. Moving to guidance, we are raising our full year outlook to reflect our solid first half results and the one-time benefit from the net IEEPA tariff refunds. 1% at the midpoint.

3%. This outlook reflects continued strength in our Titleist golf equipment segment, partially offset by softness in wearables, specifically in Asia. We now expect full year adjusted EBITDA to be $450 to $470 million. This outlook includes a full year net IEEPA tariff refund benefit of approximately $30 million.

We continue to work on the implementation of our new cloud-based ERP system and still expect full year SG&A growth, excluding incremental ERP expenses, to be generally in line with our sales growth projections for the year. As it relates to tariffs, we now expect approximately $54 million of tariff expense in 2026, which is $16 million lower than our original estimate of $70 million. As we discussed last quarter, we expect this benefit to be largely offset by higher product costs and freight costs, primarily driven by energy-related supplier cost increases including synthetic rubber pricing in golf ball manufacturing and tungsten costs in golf clubs.

Looking at the second half, our outlook reflects continued strength throughout our business. That being said, the timing impacts of the accelerated GTS metals launch, which shifted a meaningful amount of Titleist golf equipment sales and earnings into the first half, creates a more challenging comparison in the back half of the year. As a result, we expect second half net sales to be down low single digits and adjusted EBITDA to decline when compared to the second half of 2025, with the impact more pronounced in the fourth quarter.

Overall, we're pleased with our first half execution, the performance of the accelerated GTS metals launch, and the position of the business heading into the back half of the year. We remain focused on supporting the dedicated golfer, investing for long-term growth, and maintaining a disciplined capital allocation approach. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Cameron for Q&A. Cameron Volmuth, Director of Investor Relations Thanks, Sean.

Ben, could we now open up the lines for questions? OPERATOR We will now begin the question and answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow up. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand.

To withdraw your question, press star one. Again, we ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster.

Your first question comes from the line of Simeon Goodman with Morgan Stanley. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Simeon Goodman, Analyst at Morgan Stanley Hey, good morning, guys.

My first question is, if you look at golf clubs, which grew $82 million in Q2 on constant currency, I don't know if you said this or not or you're willing to quantify, but how much is attributable to the timing of pulled-up launches, and then how do you think about the rest of the business in that regard? Sean S. Sullivan, EVP Chief Financial Officer Yes, I mean, Simeon, we didn't quantify it. Again, we're just highlighting, as we did on the last, the impact.

Obviously very pleased with north of 40% growth in the quarter. Certainly a little better than we expected in terms of timing. And, you know, as we look into the back half, hopefully with the guide we've provided you can understand that at least for clubs we'll see continued, you know, performance in Q3. But the more pronounced comp on clubs will be in Q4 given the accelerated timing, if you're comping against the ’24 GTS launch.

Simeon Goodman, Analyst at Morgan Stanley Okay. And actually my follow up is related to that, and again I missed some of the prepared remarks, so hopefully this is not redundant. But if we look, the Q2 was much better on sales. Second half, this looks like it's just a Street modeling issue because you didn't help us figure out what that launch would look like exactly.

So can you talk about your plan and the sequencing of the year, second half versus first half, and if any of the pluses or minuses—it sounds like it's all pluses and there's just some timing mismatch in how the Street modeled—but that's what I'm looking to clarify. Sean S. Sullivan, EVP Chief Financial Officer Yeah, just to clarify again, last quarter, given the early performance of the launch, we had guided everybody to the high single digits in terms of revenue growth. So, you know, obviously it delivered better than that on the top line for the company.

So again, the timing was slightly better than expected. 1% at the midpoint, almost 4% constant currency, and how that converts. So very pleased. Again, you know, we gave you as much as we thought we could at the time on the first quarter call relative to first half.

So to your point, it's just a timing shift where I think the Street consensus had more of a club number in Q3 than what ultimately delivered in Q2 for us. Hopefully that's helpful.