Shares of Thor Industries Inc. THO, +2.47% shot up 6.3% in premarket trading Wednesday, after the maker of recreational vehicles reported fiscal second-quarter profit and sales that rose well above expectations, as strong demand for RVs and towables in North America offset continued supply chain challenges. Net income for the quarter to Jan. 31 more than doubled to $266.6 million, or $4.79 a share, from $132.5 million, or $2.38 a share, in the year-ago period. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was $3.39. Sales grew 42.1% to $3.88 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $3.52 billion. In North America, towable RV sales rose 44.6% to $1.99 billion and motorized RV sales soared 69.3% to $976.8 million, while RV sales in Europe fell 1.3% to $723.7 million. “We are in a market wherein most every RV produced by THOR and its competitors sells quickly,” said Chief Operating Officer Todd Woelfer. “In this situation it is easy to fall into the trap of overproducing, but we chose to produce at a prudent rate to ensure profitable growth and greater quality during this period of very strong retail demand.” Thor’s stock has tumbled 17.5% over the past three months through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.72% has declined 10.6%.
