Financial Analysis of Harley Davidson, Inc.

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Financial Analysis of Harley Davidson, Inc. Harley Davidson, Inc. was founded in 1903 by William Harley and Arthur Davidson. It was one of two motorcycle companies to survive the great depression. The company sells heavy weight motorcycles that are made for riding the highways. The company has failed at infiltrating the light weight market, and finally abandoned the idea after several failed attempts. The Harley brand is kept popular through clubs and loyal customers; they even have their own museum. (Harley Davidson, 2012) By eliminating their attempts at lighter weight models and sticking to what they are best known for, Harley Davidson has been able to keep their competition to a very small number. As it is, the top three competitors that Harley has are privately held firms. These companies include Triumph Motorcycles Limited, Ultra Motorcycle Company Inc., and Viper Motorcycle Company. (Yahoo Finance, 2013) The lack of competition by these main competitors is easily seen by the lack of financial information that can be found on any of these companies. This is a case of ants trying to compete with a giant. The market is big enough, however, that these ants can manage to survive along side of the giant without either hurting the other. In 2009 the company had a major stock price drop. This led them into a financial crisis that was believed to have been because of net profit drops in two consecutive quarters. (Harley Davidson, 2012) After company-wide restructure, the closing of factories and a distribution center, and downsizing of a big chunk of their workforce, the company has been able to turn tides on this scary situation. The Harley Davidson Company has been to the brink of financial disaster. They took stock in their situation and have been able to overcome the pending disaster. The very fact that their recent history involves this

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