MALIBU BOATS INC

During the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic retail demand for recreational powerboats increased to the highest levels seen by the industry in decades as consumers turned to boating as a form of outdoor, socially-distanced, recreation. The combination of strong retail market activity in calendar years 2020 and 2021 along with supply chain disruptions in calendar year 2021 that continued through calendar year 2022 depleted inventory levels at our dealers in calendar year 2022 below pre-COVID levels

Current inventory levels are now above pre-pandemic levels across all of our segments as retail activity has slowed at a more rapid pace than wholesale shipments. Because channel inventory is above normalized levels, we expect wholesale demand will be below the underlying retail activity for our products into fiscal year 2025. We experienced a progressive decline in retail demand during fiscal year 2024, in particular in entry level and lower priced boats. We expect that this softening in retail demand will continue into fiscal year 2025. In response, we have reduced our wholesale production.

We aim to increase our market share across the boating categories in which we compete through new product development, improved distribution, new models, and innovative features. Our industry, however, is highly competitive, and our competitors have become more aggressive in their product introductions, expanded their distribution capabilities, and launched surf systems competitive with our patented Surf Gate system. We believe our strong brands, new product pipeline, strong dealer network and ability to increase production will allow us to maintain, and potentially expand, our leading market position in performance sports boats. We also believe that our track record of expanding our market share with our Malibu and Axis brands is directly transferable to our Cobalt, Pursuit and Maverick Boat Group brands.

As discussed above, our financial results and operations have been, and could continue to be, impacted by events outside of our control, including inflationary pressures, rising prices for our suppliers and labor shortages. Numerous other variables also have the potential to impact our volumes, both positively and negatively. For instance, elevated interest rates, which we are currently experiencing and expect to continue to experience in the near term, has reduced retail consumer appetite for our product and reduced the appetite for credit for our dealers and retail consumers.