Garmin announces fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 results

Reports record full-year revenue and profit, and proposes a 20% dividend increase

SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland, Feb. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Garmin^® Ltd. (NYSE: GRMN), today announced results for the fourth quarter ended December 28, 2024.

Highlights for fourth quarter 2024 include:

• Consolidated revenue of $1.82 billion, a 23% increase compared to the prior year quarter
• Gross margin expanded to 59.3% from 58.3% in the prior year quarter
• Operating margin expanded to 28.3% compared to 23.0% in the prior year quarter
• Operating income was $516 million, a 52% increase compared to the prior year quarter
• GAAP EPS of $2.25 and pro forma EPS⁽¹⁾ of $2.41, representing 40% growth in pro forma EPS over the prior year quarter
• Shipped over 300 million units since inception
• Runway Occupancy Awareness technology honored with a prestigious Laureate Award from Aviation Week Network
• Garmin ranked No. 1 for the 21st consecutive year in Professional Pilot's Avionics Manufacturers Product Support Survey
• Launched the Approach^® R50, portable golf launch monitor with a built-in simulator
• Launched the Descent™ X50i, our first large-format dive computer

Highlights for fiscal year 2024 include:

• Celebrated our 35^th year anniversary of creating innovative products
• Record consolidated revenue of $6.30 billion, a 20% increase compared to the prior year
• All segments posted record full-year revenue
• Gross margin expanded to 58.7% compared to 57.5% in the prior year
• Operating margin expanded to 25.3% compared to 20.9% in the prior year
• Record operating income of $1.59 billion, a 46% increase compared to the prior year
• GAAP EPS of $7.30 and record pro forma EPS⁽¹⁾ of $7.39, representing 32% growth in pro forma EPS over the prior year

Executive Overview from Cliff Pemble, President and Chief Executive Officer:

"2024 was a year of remarkable growth and achievement for Garmin, resulting in record full-year consolidated revenue and record full-year revenue in all five of our segments, as well as record full-year consolidated operating income. We are entering 2025 with continued strong momentum from our robust product lineup and have many product launches planned during the year. I am very proud of what we accomplished in 2024 and look forward to all that 2025 will bring." - Cliff Pemble, President and Chief Executive Officer of Garmin Ltd.

Fitness:

Revenue from the fitness segment increased 31% in the fourth quarter with growth across all categories led by strong demand for wearables. Gross and operating margins were 57% and 30%, respectively, resulting in $159 million of operating income. During the quarter, we launched Lily^® 2 Active, our smallest smartwatch with GPS, featuring a timeless design and up to nine days of battery life in smartwatch mode. We also recently released our 2024 Connect Fitness Report which highlights overall health and fitness trends of our customers around the world.

Outdoor:

Revenue from the outdoor segment increased 29% in the fourth quarter with growth led by adventure watches. Gross and operating margins were 67% and 40%, respectively, resulting in $251 million of operating income. During the quarter, we launched the Approach R50, the only portable golf launch monitor with a built-in simulator, featuring a 10" built-in color touchscreen display and more than 43,000 preloaded golf courses worldwide. We also launched the Descent X50i, our largest dive computer with a vivid 3" color display providing rich information that is readable at a glance.

Aviation:

Revenue from the aviation segment grew 9% in the fourth quarter with growth contributions from both the OEM and aftermarket product categories. Gross and operating margins were 75% and 27%, respectively, resulting in $64 million of operating income. During the quarter, Textron Aviation announced the G3000^® PRIME integrated flight deck with Autoland for the Cessna Citation CJ4 Gen3. Also, the G3000 PRIME has been selected by BETA Technologies for the ALIA conventional take-off and landing electric aircraft, which conducted its inaugural flight during the quarter.

Marine:

Revenue from the marine segment increased 5% in the fourth quarter with growth across multiple categories. Gross and operating margins were 58% and 20%, respectively, resulting in $51 million of operating income. During the quarter, Garmin was awarded a 2024 National Boating Safety Award from the Sea Tow Foundation for the fourth consecutive year. Also during the quarter, JL Audio^® received an Innovation Award for its Pavilion line of outdoor home speakers from Home Technology Specialists of America, Inc., a leading consumer electronics trade group.  

Auto OEM:

Revenue from the auto OEM segment increased 30% during the fourth quarter due to increased shipments of domain controllers. Gross margin was 17%, and we recorded an operating loss of $9 million in the quarter. Our Unified Cabin domain controller solution was recognized as a Consumer Electronics Show 2025 Innovation Award Honoree in the in-vehicle entertainment category.

Additional Financial Information:

Total operating expenses in the fourth quarter were $564 million, an 8% increase over the prior year, primarily driven by higher personnel-related costs. 

In the fourth quarter of 2024, we reported $80 million of income tax expense, representing an effective tax rate of 15.6%. In the fourth quarter of 2023, we reported a $159 million income tax benefit. Excluding $181 million of income tax benefit due to the revaluation of certain Switzerland deferred tax assets, and $12 million of income tax benefit due to auto OEM manufacturing tax incentives in Poland, our pro forma effective tax rate⁽¹⁾ in the fourth quarter of 2023 was 9.0%. The increase in the current quarter effective tax rate compared to the prior year pro forma tax rate is primarily due to an increase in the combined federal and cantonal Switzerland statutory tax rate in response to global minimum tax requirements. 

In the fourth quarter of 2024, we generated operating cash flow of $484 million and free cash flow⁽¹⁾ of $399 million. We paid a quarterly dividend of approximately $144 million and repurchased $33 million of the Company's shares within the quarter, leaving approximately $238 million remaining as of December 28, 2024 in the share repurchase program authorized through December 2026. We ended the quarter with cash and marketable securities of approximately $3.7 billion.

2025 Fiscal Year Guidance⁽²⁾:

We expect full-year 2025 revenue of approximately $6.80 billion, an increase of approximately 8% over 2024. We expect our full-year pro forma EPS to be approximately $7.80 based upon gross margin of approximately 58.7%, operating margin of approximately 25.0% and pro forma effective tax rate of approximately 16.5%.

Dividend Recommendation:

The Board of Directors intends to recommend to the shareholders for approval at the annual meeting to be held on June 6, 2025, a cash dividend in the amount of $3.60 per share, payable in four equal installments on dates to be determined by the Board. The Board currently anticipates the scheduling of the dividend in four installments as follows:

In addition, the Board has established March 28, 2025 as the payment date and March 14, 2025 as the record date for the final dividend installment of $0.75 per share, per the prior dividend approval at the 2024 annual shareholders' meeting. The first, second and third payments of $0.75 per share were made on June 28, 2024, September 27, 2024, and December 27, 2024, respectively. 

Webcast Information/Forward-Looking Statements:

The information for Garmin Ltd.'s earnings call is as follows:

An archive of the live webcast will be available until February 18, 2026 on the Garmin website at www.garmin.com. To access the replay, click on the Investors link and click over to the Events Calendar page.

This release includes projections and other forward-looking statements regarding Garmin Ltd. and its business that are commonly identified by words such as "anticipates," "would," "may," "expects," "estimates," "plans," "intends," "projects," and other words or phrases with similar meanings. Any statements regarding the Company's expected fiscal 2025 GAAP and pro forma estimated earnings, EPS, and effective tax rate, and the Company's expected segment revenue growth rates, consolidated revenue, gross margins, operating margins, potential future acquisitions, share repurchase programs, currency movements, expenses, pricing, new product launches, market reach, statements relating to possible future dividends, and the Company's plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could differ materially as a result of risk factors and uncertainties affecting Garmin, including, but not limited to, the risk factors that are described in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2024 filed by Garmin with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission file number 001-41118). A copy of Garmin's 2024 Form 10-K can be downloaded from https://www.garmin.com/en-US/investors/sec/. All information provided in this release and in the attachments is as of December 28, 2024. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release, which are based on information available to us on the date hereof. We undertake no duty to update this information unless required by law.

This release and the attachments contain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation to the nearest GAAP measure and a discussion of the Company's use of these measures are included in the attachments.

Garmin, the Garmin logo, Approach, G3000, Lily and JL Audio are trademarks of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries and are registered in one or more countries, including the U.S. Descent is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

To supplement our financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, this release includes the following measures defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission as non-GAAP financial measures: pro forma effective tax rate, pro forma net income (earnings) per share and free cash flow. These non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles and should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies, limiting the usefulness of the measures for comparison with other companies. Management believes providing investors with an operating view consistent with how it manages the Company provides enhanced transparency into the operating results of the Company, as described in more detail by category below. 

The tables below provide reconciliations between the GAAP and non-GAAP measures.

Pro forma effective tax rate

The Company's income tax expense is periodically impacted by discrete tax items that are not reflective of income tax expense incurred as a result of current period earnings. Therefore, management believes disclosure of the effective tax rate and income tax provision before the effect of certain discrete tax items are important measures to permit investors' consistent comparison between periods. In the full year 2024 there were no such discrete tax items identified.

Pro forma net income (earnings) per share

Management believes that net income (earnings) per share before the impact of foreign currency gains or losses and certain discrete income tax items, as discussed above, is an important measure in order to permit a consistent comparison of the Company's performance between periods.

Free cash flow

Management believes that free cash flow is an important liquidity measure because it represents the amount of cash provided by operations that is available for investing and defines it as operating cash flows less capital expenditures for property and equipment. Management believes that excluding purchases of property and equipment provides a better understanding of the underlying trends in the Company's operations and allows more accurate comparisons of the Company's results between periods. This metric may also be useful to investors but should not be considered in isolation as it is not a measure of cash flow available for discretionary expenditures. The most comparable GAAP measure is net cash provided by operating activities.

Forward-looking Financial Measures

The forward-looking financial measures in our 2025 guidance provided above do not consider the potential future net effect of foreign currency exchange gains and losses, certain discrete tax items and any other impacts that may be identified as pro forma adjustments in calculating the non-GAAP measures described above. 

The estimated impact of foreign currency gains and losses cannot be reasonably estimated on a forward-looking basis due to the high variability and low visibility with respect to non-operating foreign currency exchange gains and losses and the related tax effects of such gains and losses. The impact on diluted net income per share of foreign currency gains and losses, net of tax effects, was $0.09 per share for the 52 weeks ended December 28, 2024.

At this time, management is unable to determine whether or not significant discrete tax items will occur in fiscal 2025 or anticipate the impact of any other events that may be considered in the calculation of non-GAAP financial measures.

SOURCE Garmin Ltd.