Harley Trudges Through Tariff Costs, Sending Shares Up Sharply
- Company cuts 2018 profit margin forecast on impact of levies
- Early shipments to Europe minimized this year’s projected hit
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Harley-Davidson Inc. cut its forecast for profit margin this year by an amount that suggests it’s finding a way to cope with the damage done by President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Harley sped up shipments to the European Union to blunt the impact of higher tariffs that the bloc enacted last month. As a result of the tariffs, operating margin this year will drop to about 9.5 percent, the midpoint of a range the Milwaukee-based manufacturer gave in a statement Tuesday, compared with a previous projection of about 10 percent. The squeeze wasn’t as severe as analysts had anticipated.