Amid recession fears, Clearwater’s MarineMax posts biggest revenues ever

Inflation is soaring. Fuel costs are dropping, but still historically high. The Federal Reserve just hiked interest rates for the fourth time this year.

And people everywhere are still buying boats.

Clearwater boat retailer MarineMax on Thursday announced its biggest quarter of revenue ever, reflecting continued “demand for the boating lifestyle,” CEO Brett McGill said on a call with investors.

The company reported revenues of $688.5 million during April, May and June, up from the previous record of $666.3 million set last year. That’s more than the company posted during its entire 2014 fiscal year.

The record revenues came at a time when the global supply chain crunch is still weighing on manufacturers, as boat components are still slow to arrive, leading to a long backlog of orders. In-stock inventory at dealerships and marinas is only about 15% of what it was in summer 2019, McGill said. Yet customer deposits increased 60% year over year to $138 million, McGill said.

“The fact that we accomplished this when inventory for large boats is almost nonexistent is truly an achievement,” McGill said. “If we would have had the product to deliver, it would have translated to higher revenue.”

MarineMax has assets valued at $1.3 billion, including $281 million in cash on hand. Net income was $70.2 million for the quarter and nearly $160 million for the first three months of the fiscal year.

For the third time this year, MarineMax raised its fiscal outlook for investors, hiking expected earnings per diluted share from $8.05 to $8.45 — well above the $6.78 per share recorded last year.

MarineMax stock opened Thursday at $41.65 per share, down from a high of $59.04 just before New Year’s, but still more than four times what it was before the start of the pandemic in March 2020.