Q2 Financial Reports: Acushnet and Callaway Ride the Wave

Q2 Financial Reports – Key Takeaways

• Acushnet and Callaway both top $1 billion in sales so far in 2021.
• Acushnet Q2 sales are up 105 percent for Q2 and 70 percent for 2021.
• Callaway net sales are up 208 percent for Q2 and 112 percent for 2021.

The Q2 financial reports for golf’s two biggest dogs are out and, to put it simply, both Acushnet and Callaway are barking up a storm.

And as bad as last year’s COVID-laced second quarter was—and it was plenty bad—both companies’ 2021 results continue to rewrite the record books. Acushnet more than doubled its Q2 sales compared to last year and Callaway’s sales more than tripled.

And, most importantly, both companies are comfortably in the black.

So, with the requisite disclaimer that we are neither financial advisors nor experts in corporate finance—we’re just folks who love golf and like to read all about it—let’s dive in.

Q2 Financial Reports – Acushnet

After a strong first quarter, Acushnet’s Q2 financial reports show the momentum isn’t letting up. Sales hit $624.9 million in Q2. That’s an increase of more than 108 percent over last year. More importantly, it’s a 35-percent increase over the COVID-less 2019 mark.

“Demand across all Acushnet product categories remains robust and contributed to another terrific quarter for the company,” Acushnet President and CEO David Maher said in a press release. “Our strong performance was led by sales across our product portfolio.”

And that means everything. Titleist golf club sales topped $152 million for the quarter, up 111 percent over Q2 of last year. Q2 balls sales hit $202 million, a 98-percent jump, while Titleist golf gear (gloves, bags, hats, etc.) sales were $65 million, more than double last year’s Q2 mark.

The biggest splash was made by FootJoy, with sales of nearly $165 million, a 141-percent increase over last year.

Net income (aka profit) for the quarter topped $81 million. That’s light years ahead of last year’s Q2 profit of $2.3 million and more than double the Q2 2019 profit of $38.5 million.

Acushnet’s first-half results are equally impressive with net sales topping $1.2 billion. That’s a 70-percent jump over the first half of 2020 and 35 percent ahead of the 2019 results.

Profits for the first half are $166 million, compared to $11 million last year and $73.4 million in 2019.

Yeah, things are good.

Worldwide Results

Sure, last year’s Q2 results were lockdown-skewed. But, by all measures, it’s hard to look at the industry’s overall rebound as anything but remarkable. Acushnet’s Q2 U.S. sales were up 117 percent, paced by nearly $66 million in golf ball sales. FootJoy’s U.S. sales were up nearly $44 million, Titleist clubs were up $41 million and Titleist gear (hats, bags, gloves) were up $17 million.

Although it’s off a smaller number, Acushnet’s European sales nearly tripled in Q2 to more than $97 million. Sales in Japan more than doubled, as did sales in what Acushnet calls Rest of World. Korea, which did not see the same negative impact of COVID as the rest of the globe, also saw a Q2 jump. Sales for the quarter totaled $97 million, a 47-percent increase over last year.

A look at the first six months for each region paints a similar picture. U.S. sales overall for the first half of the year were $624 million compared to $356 million last year. European sales were $178 million, compared to $108 million last year. Golf-mad Korea nearly equaled Europe all by itself with sales topping $176 million. First-half sales in Japan topped $102 million (up 71 percent) and Rest of World sales were nearly $126 million, up nearly 86 percent.

Acushnet’s leadership expects full-year sales to wind up just south of $2 billion.

Q2 Financial Reports – Callaway

As impressive as Acushnet’s Q2 was, Callaway’s was otherworldly. Sales hit $914 million—as in almost a billion—in Q2 alone. Sure, the market is doing great and people are snapping up golf gear at unprecedented levels. But Callaway’s Q2 sales more than tripled last year’s results.

The reason?

Topgolf.

Of that $914 million total, $588 million came from what could be regarded as “old” Callaway, i.e., golf equipment and soft goods. Topgolf added $325 million in revenue in Q2, its first full quarter under the Callaway umbrella.

That should answer any questions you may have as to why Callaway “merged” with Topgolf in the first place.

“I am very pleased with our performance in the second quarter of 2021 with record revenue … in our golf equipment and apparel business, as well as Topgolf results that continue to exceed our expectations,” Callaway President and CEO Chip Brewer said in a press release.

Oh, and Callaway turned in a $92-million profit in Q2 compared to a $168-million loss last year. That loss, however, is misleading, as Callaway used the COVID-lockdown quarter to write off a $174-million pre-tax goodwill impairment on its 2018 purchase of Jack Wolfskin.

For the first six months, Callaway’s sales topped $1.5 billion and first-half profits were $364 million. That number does require an asterisk, however, due to the Topgolf merger. Callaway’s Q1 profits topped $274 million but the deal boosted the value of Callaway’s 14-percent pre-merger stake by more than $250 million. That had to be accounted for and the Q1 financial reports it as a non-cash gain.

Crunching the Numbers

Since the Topgolf merger, Callaway has broken operations into three operating segments: Golf Equipment; Apparel, Gear and Other; Topgolf.

Golf Equipment sales jumped 91 percent in Q2 over last year to $401 million. Of that total, nearly $320 million is club sales and more than $81 million is ball sales. If you’re into rivalries, Callaway’s club sales were more than double Acushnet’s. In ball sales, however, Acushnet—at $202 million—left distant second-place Callaway eating dust.

Callaway’s Apparel, Gear and Other segment posted a 115-percent jump in Q2 sales, driven by TravisMathew. Apparel sales alone jumped 152 percent over last year. Gear sales increased 88 percent. Overall, segment sales are up 21 percent compared to 2019.

Q2 was Topgolf’s first full quarter under the Callaway umbrella and it didn’t disappoint. Topgolf added $325 million in new revenue for the quarter as well as $24 million in profits. Since the merger, Topgolf has added more than $418 million to Callaway’s topline sales.

Regionally, U.S. sales were nearly $643 million for the quarter. Sales in Europe were nearly $130 million, Japan nearly $62 million and Rest of World more than $88 million.

For the first half of the year, club sales hit $636 million and ball sales were nearly $142 million, up 56 and 50 percent respectively from 2020. Apparel sales were up 64 percent while gear sales were up 47 percent.

Regionally, Callaway’s revenues topped $1 billion in the U.S. alone. European sales reached $229 million while Japan and Rest of World were $134 million and $171 million respectively.

Margins and Projections

Callaway has added something new, and potentially very interesting, to its financial reports for Q2: margin percentages.

For example, Callaway reports net income (profit) from the Golf Equipment segment for the first six months of 2021 at $183 million on $778 million in sales. That’s a profit margin of 23.5 percent. The overall profit margin for the first half of the year is 15.8 percent.

So, if you’ve ever wondered about profit margins on clubs and balls, Callaway is sort of spelling it out for you. Keep in mind that number obviously represents lower margins on older models as well as higher margins on the new stuff. Also, keep in mind those margins are off wholesale pricing as opposed to what you might pay at retail.

For the year, Callaway is projecting sales to top $3 billion. The company believed that would eventually happen after the Topgolf merger but not until 2022 or 2023. Either way, Topgolf is going to be a force. Callaway expects an even better Q3 for its new toy and it’s predicting 10-month same-venue sales to be close to 90 percent of full-year 2019 totals.

In addition, four new Topgolf venues opened in Q2 with nine new venues expected this year.

An Eye On COVID

Both Callaway and Acushnet are bullish on the remainder of 2021, but COVID-19 is always lurking in the shadows.

“While we do expect golfer engagement to remain healthy, we do expect to face various levels of disruption in our supply chain,” says Acushnet’s David Maher.

“In the short term, we will experience some lingering supply chain constraints and other challenges caused by the pandemic,” adds Callaway’s Chip Brewer. “We believe these challenges will be manageable, given the current demand levels and actions we are taking to mitigate the impact.”

Acushnet’s outlook assumes no significant worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic other than lingering supply chain issues. Specifically, those issues include golf ball raw material availability and manufacturing pressures in Thailand which might impact apparel availability. The company expects the new T-series irons launching in Q3 to mitigate any potential issues.

Callaway also believes it can manage any potential COVID-19 issues although it does admit the Delta variant is a worry, particularly in Southeast Asia. Callaway is moving some production to less impacted areas.

You can also expect lower than normal inventories from both companies at retail for the remainder of the year. Callaway starts shifting production to its 2022 lineup soon and is being very candid in expecting a $55-million negative impact from COVID over the remainder of 2021. Almost all of it will come out of Q3 equipment sales.

In other words, if you want a set of Apex irons, an Epic Max LS or a TSi 2 or 3 driver, you should probably get a move on. It’s doubtful they’ll be discounted any time soon.