(By Balachander) Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) posted a drop in quarterly profit as a fall in motorcycle shipments hurt revenue.
For the third quarter, net income declined to $134.0 million or 59 cents a share from $183.5 million or 78 cents per share in the comparable period of last year.
Motorcycles and related products revenue declined 11.6 percent to $1.09 billion. Shipments of motorcycles dropped 14.5 percent to 52,793 vehicles.
Wall Street analysts, on average, expected earnings of 58 cents per share on revenue of $1.12 billion.
Gross margin improved to 34.7 percent from 33.7 percent.
Looking ahead for the fourth quarter, Harley-Davidson forecasts a 2 percent to 12 percent decline in shipments from last year.
For the full year, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company continues to forecast a 5 percent to 7 percent increase in motorcycle shipments.
The stock, which has been trading in the 52-week range of $34.39 to $54.32, ended at $43.53 on Monday.