Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) shares gained nearly 5% pre-market today after DA Davidson upgraded the company to Buy from Neutral and increased its price target to $47.00 from $38.00. The decision to adopt a more bullish stance was influenced by positive feedback from the motorcycle industry checks.
According to DA Davidson, their latest round of checks revealed a more optimistic sentiment from dealers compared to the previous assessment in May. It appears that April was likely the weakest month of the quarter for the company, as retail performance gradually improved throughout the second quarter. Furthermore, dealers made significant progress in clearing non-current inventory, and early indications suggest that pre-order demand for Harley-Davidson’s new custom vehicle operation (CVO) product launch is surpassing expectations.
Looking ahead to Harley-Davidson’s upcoming earnings release on July 27, DA Davidson believes that the company is positioned to surpass the relatively low expectations surrounding retail performance, second-quarter earnings, and their outlook for the second half of 2023.