Titleist parent Acushnet (GOLF: NYSE) reported 2024 sales of $2.46 billion, up 3.2 percent year over year, with earnings up nearly 16 percent to $214.3 million. The company reported its Q4 2024 sales at $45 million versus $413 million in Q4 of 2023. Acushnet reported a Q4 2024 loss of $1.1 million, compared to a loss of $26.8 million for the same period in 2023. This improvement, according to Acushnet, was primarily a result of a decrease in loss from operations driven by higher gross profit, partially offset by higher operating expenses.
Speaking with Wall Street analysts on Feb. 27, Acushnet CFO Sean Sullivan said the company expects net sales the first half of 2025 to be up low single digits compared to the first half of 2024, with growth primarily coming from Titleist Golf Equipment, driven by the new Pro V1 ball launch and continued momentum of our GT Metals product line.
That’s the positive news. On the negative side, Sullivan said Acushnet expects Q1 2025 net sales to be below prior year “as we are forecasting a $10 million to $15 million foreign currency headwind.’’
“We would also expect this currency headwind to have a negative impact on adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter. We are pleased with our performance in 2024 and remain focused on executing on our priorities in 2025 and beyond.
Acushnet’s stock today closed at $64.30 after opening at $64.84, likely in part because the company’s guidance does not include any potential tariffs or forecast did not include retaliatory actions, which Sullivan said could be $7 million – 10 percent coming out of China.
Acushnet sources six percent of its cost of goods sold from China and has what it Sullivan called “minimal exposure’’ to Mexico and Canada,
“I just think the environment is fairly dynamic right now,’’ Sullivan said. “So we thought to be reasonable and prudent was to highlight what we saw as the potential risk and isolate it for everyone, as opposed to baking it in. So as we go forward here, we can update you each quarter.
“But again, I think that the important point for the investor base is that we have minimal exposure to Canada and Mexico, given our operations. We’ve done a wonderful job with our supply chain in having, for one example, moving to Vietnam (from China) with the footwear production, which was completed and is fully operational here in ’25. So I think to have six percent exposure of cost of goods sold to China… I think is a good place for us to be.
“We’re working with the teams to evaluate the supply chain, other geographic sourcing options, as well as any potential pricing actions to mitigate that. So that’s our best outlook today and felt best to exclude it from the guide.’’