Garmin surprised this morning with a better-than-expected fourth quarter 2008 earnings call.
Despite a tough holiday shopping season, Garmin still managed to dish out 6.4 million units in the fourth quarter, a 15 percent increase from the same time in 2007. Still, falling prices resulted in total fourth quarter revenues of $1.048 billion, a 14 percent drop from 2007. Gross margins remained a healthy 41.1 percent, with operating margins of 22.6 percent and diluted earnings per share of $0.78. Garmin also reduced its inventory by $274 million in the fourth quarter.
For fiscal year 2008, Garmin’s total revenue was up 10 percent from 2007 with $3.49 billion for 16.9 million units. Falling prices were once again apparent with unit sales up 38 percent from 2007. Furthermore, the company claimed growth in all of its major geographic sales regions and four major product lines. The most growth was in its outdoor/fitness products while its marine segment growth as virtually flat. Gross margins for the full year sat at 44.5 percent and operating margins were 24.7 percent, both better than expected.
Overall, Garmin finished the year with no debt, $743 million in free cash flow, and diluted earnings per share of $3.48.
The company also confirmed its Asus partnership will result in the nuviphone G60 and nuviphone M20 shipping in the first half of 2009.
Citing economic uncertainty, Garmin didn’t provide a forecast for the first quarter of fiscal 2009.
