Malibu Boats Q4 Sales Jump 43% as Adjusted EPS More Than Doubles

Malibu Boats closed fiscal 2026 with a much stronger fourth quarter than it had a year earlier, as net sales rose 42.7% and adjusted earnings per share more than doubled. The recreational boat maker said fourth quarter net sales reached $295.5 million for the period ended June 30, up from $207.0 million a year earlier, while adjusted net income per share climbed to $0.92 from $0.42.

The quarter was helped by the first full period of contribution from Saxdor, the premium adventure dayboat business Malibu acquired in March, as well as better volumes in the Cobalt and Saltwater Fishing segments and a richer model mix across the company’s established brands. Unit volume increased 19.2% to 1,456 boats, gross profit rose 59.4% to $52.2 million, and adjusted EBITDA increased 72.7% to $33.9 million.

The headline quarter did not erase a more mixed full-year picture. Malibu’s fiscal 2026 net sales rose 13.3% to $914.6 million, but GAAP net income fell to $1.7 million from $15.2 million in fiscal 2025 and adjusted EBITDA slipped 1.1% to $73.9 million. Management also pointed to continued pressure on monthly-payment buyers, even as it said parts of the marine market are beginning to stabilize.

Saxdor and segment growth drove the fourth-quarter rebound

In the earnings release Malibu furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the biggest single contributor to the fourth-quarter sales increase was Saxdor, which added $61.2 million of revenue and 180 units. Malibu completed that acquisition on March 2, so the June quarter was the first full reporting period to include the brand.

The legacy businesses also improved. Net sales in the Malibu segment increased 3.2% to $82.9 million even though unit volume in that segment slipped 2.5%, reflecting a more favorable model mix and year-over-year price increases. Saltwater Fishing sales rose 11.1% to $80.9 million as unit volume edged up 2.2%. Cobalt posted the sharpest improvement among the existing businesses, with net sales up 31.0% to $70.5 million and unit volume up 18.9%.

Those gains translated into a higher average selling price across the company. Consolidated net sales per unit increased 19.7% to $202,979. Malibu said net sales per unit rose in each legacy segment, helped by pricing and mix. That matters because the June quarter was not simply a story of shipping more boats. The company sold a more expensive mix as well, which helped push gross margin up to 17.7% from 15.8% a year earlier.

Profitability still carried some offsetting costs. Selling and marketing expense rose 25.7% to $6.8 million, and general and administrative expense increased 68.8% to $31.8 million. Malibu said the rise in overhead was driven mainly by acquisition-related costs tied to Saxdor, the addition of the new segment, and higher incentive pay. Amortization expense also increased by $2.6 million because of newly acquired intangible assets. Even with those costs, operating income improved to $9.3 million from $6.8 million and GAAP net income increased 53.7% to $7.4 million.

The distinction between GAAP and adjusted figures is important in this set of results. Adjusted EBITDA rose much faster than GAAP net income, and adjusted earnings per share rose faster still, indicating that acquisition-related costs and other non-core items remained meaningful in the quarter. For investors, that means the operating improvement was real, but the clean year-over-year comparison was still affected by the integration of the newly acquired business.

Full-year results show recovery in sales, but margin pressure remained

For the full fiscal year, Malibu’s numbers were more balanced than the fourth quarter alone suggests. Net sales increased by $107.0 million to $914.6 million, and unit volume rose by 46 boats to 4,944 units. Nearly all of the unit growth came from Saxdor, which contributed 246 units and $84.3 million of sales for the portion of the year it was owned. Across the three pre-existing segments, unit volume fell as dealers continued to manage inventories conservatively and retail demand stayed softer than during the post-pandemic highs.

That pattern is visible in the segment detail. Full-year Malibu segment sales were essentially flat, rising 0.1% to $312.9 million while unit volume fell by 73 boats. Saltwater Fishing sales increased 1.6% to $284.0 million, but unit volume declined by 53 boats. Cobalt sales increased 8.4% to $233.4 million even as unit volume fell by 74 boats. Price increases and favorable model mix supported revenue, yet they did not fully offset cost inflation when it came to margins.

Gross profit for fiscal 2026 increased only 1.7% to $146.5 million, and gross margin fell to 16.0% from 17.8%. Malibu attributed that decline primarily to higher per-unit material and labor costs. Those increases were especially notable in the legacy segments, where a more expensive model mix, inflationary pressures, and lower operating leverage all weighed on profitability.

The pressure carried through to the bottom line. General and administrative expense rose 13.7% to $105.1 million, selling and marketing expense increased 19.1% to $27.5 million, and amortization expense increased to $10.8 million. As a result, operating income dropped to $3.1 million from $21.8 million. GAAP net income fell 88.8% to $1.7 million, and adjusted net income per share edged down 3.8% to $1.52. Adjusted EBITDA declined to $73.9 million from $74.8 million, and the adjusted EBITDA margin narrowed to 8.1% from 9.3%.

That split between fourth-quarter momentum and softer full-year profitability helps explain the current stage of Malibu’s recovery. The company is clearly selling into better conditions than it faced during the industry downturn, and Saxdor has already added scale. At the same time, the business is still working through the cost of integration and a demand environment in which consumers who rely heavily on financing remain under pressure.

Guidance, refinancing and capital returns set the next markers

Management’s outlook for fiscal 2027 suggests it expects further improvement. Malibu guided for net sales between $1.08 billion and $1.12 billion and adjusted EBITDA between $101 million and $109 million. If achieved, that would imply a meaningful step up from fiscal 2026 on both measures. The company did not provide a GAAP earnings forecast, saying a reconciliation from adjusted EBITDA would require assumptions about items that are difficult to predict in advance.

The balance sheet gives the company room to pursue that plan. As of June 30, Malibu had $74.4 million in cash and $165.0 million of long-term debt. It also generated $67.5 million of operating cash flow during fiscal 2026 and $43.2 million of free cash flow after $24.7 million of capital expenditures.

Malibu also entered fiscal 2027 with a recently refinanced credit agreement. The company said it completed that refinancing on July 10, extending its maturity to July 2031. The new structure includes a $100.0 million term loan and a $250.0 million revolving credit facility, replacing the prior $350.0 million revolver. Management said the refinancing improves liquidity and preserves flexibility for investment, Saxdor integration and other growth opportunities.

Shareholder returns remain part of the plan as well. Malibu said its board authorized a new $70 million share repurchase program for fiscal 2027 in June. The company paused open-market repurchases during lender negotiations, but management said the new authorization and the completed refinancing reflect confidence in the business and provide flexibility on capital allocation going forward.

The operating backdrop is still not fully clear. Malibu said it is seeing early signs of stabilization across the industry, but also said broader macroeconomic disruptions continue to pressure payment-oriented buyers. That caution helps explain why the company paired a strong quarter with a measured tone about the near-term cycle. One concrete milestone in the coming months will be the expected completion of the first domestically built Saxdor boats at Malibu’s Fort Pierce, Florida facility in the first half of fiscal 2027, which should offer an early test of how smoothly the integration is progressing.