Thor Industries reported record quarterly net sales for the first quarter of its 2022 fiscal year. This is the third consecutive quarterly record reported by the company.
Net sales for Q1 2022 were $3.96 billion, an increase of 56% as compared to the first quarter of the prior fiscal year. The 2021 fiscal year Q1 net sales were an increase of 17.5% over 2020.
The company’s RV backlog has increased by 100% in a year-over-year comparison to reach $18.07 billion as of Oct. 31, 2021.
Bob Martin, Thor Industries president and CEO, said the soaring backlog reaffirms the company’s view that the dealer restocking process will take “a number of quarters to complete,” possibly extending into 2023. He said independent dealer and consumer demand has remained positive and strong.
“It seems the market focuses on the supply chain and labor challenges that our industry is facing right now,” Martin said, “more than it does our performance in the face of those challenges, but our performance has been consistent despite those challenges. Through outstanding operational execution, our teams continue to successfully navigate through these challenges at record levels. In the quarter, we delivered over 88,100 units, outpacing the RV industry’s growth rate of shipments.”
The CEO noted the company’s recent acquisition of Airxcel, calling the deal a manifestation of a bullish outlook on the RV industry and Thor.
“This acquisition is a key piece to our strategic positioning of Thor as we seek to strengthen our supply chain,” Martin said. “The Airxcel integration has gone exceedingly well, and we continue to see a great opportunity for growth through innovation, additional product offerings and the aftermarket business.”
Martin noted the recent RVIA 2021 wholesale shipment forecast of over 602,000 units and over 613,000 wholesale shipments in 2022, a 2% increase for 2022.
“We agree with this outlook and expect Thor to continue to outperform the market and to grow at a higher rate than RVIA projects for the industry as whole,” said Martin.
Thor’s North American towables segment accounted for $2.24 billion, compared to $1.39 billion in the Q1 2021. Additionally, the North American motorized RV segment was $925 million compared to $493.9 million in 2021.
Consolidated net sales were $3.96 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, compared to $2.54 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2021. Thor attributed the increase in consolidated net sales primarily to the continuing demand for RVs and recent acquisitions, specifically the Tiffin Group and Airxcel. The Tiffin Group was acquired in December 2020 and accounted for $228.3 million in net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2022, while the addition of Airxcel, acquired in September 2021, accounted for $88.8 million in net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2022.
Collean Zuhl, Thor’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, said the company’s increase in consolidated gross profit margin of 16.6% reflects the company’s decision to take price adjustments ahead of anticipated increases in material costs.
“We do expect our consolidated gross margins to see some downward pressure,” Zuhl said, “as global revenue mix normalizes and cost increases continue to occur in future quarters of fiscal 2022.”
