Brunswick Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
July 30, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter results exceeded expectations, with sales up 8% to $1.6 billion and adjusted EPS up 34% to $1.56. Growth was broad-based across all segments, supported by pricing, product mix, OEM demand, and recurring-revenue businesses.
  • Positive Sentiment: Brunswick raised its full-year outlook to $5.7 billion–$5.8 billion in revenue, approximately 8% adjusted operating margin, and adjusted EPS of $4.35–$4.75; free-cash-flow guidance increased to more than $400 million. The company also plans to retire at least $160 million of debt by year-end.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Demand remains bifurcated, with premium fiberglass and core boat products roughly flat and resilient, while value-oriented runabout models remain pressured by affordability and consumer sentiment. Brunswick expects boat retail sales to finish roughly flat to slightly down, while dealer inventories remain lean and wholesale demand steady.
  • Positive Sentiment: Recurring and aftermarket businesses continued to perform strongly: Engine Parts & Accessories sales rose 9%, Navico sales increased 7%, and Freedom Boat Club member trips climbed 13% in the first half. Freedom Boat Club also reached its 450th global location, reinforcing Brunswick’s participation-driven revenue streams.
  • Negative Sentiment: Tariffs and inflation remain material risks, with total 2026 tariff costs estimated at approximately $40 million and newly introduced Section 301 and Canadian tariffs adding about $5 million of incremental net impact. Management also expects roughly $15 million of additional material inflation in the second half, partly offset by expected IEEPA refunds.
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Earnings Conference Call
Brunswick Q2 2026
00:00 / 00:00

Transcript Sections

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Operator

Good morning, and welcome to Brunswick Corporation's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode until the question and answer period. Today's meeting will be recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. I would now like to introduce Stephen Weiland, Senior Vice President and Deputy CFO, Brunswick Corporation.

Stephen Weiland
Stephen Weiland
SVP and Deputy CFO at Brunswick

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. With me on the call this morning are David Foulkes, Brunswick's Chairman and CEO, and Ryan Gwillim, Brunswick's CFO. Before we begin with our prepared remarks, I would like to remind everyone that during this call, our comments will include certain forward-looking statements about future results. Please keep in mind that our actual results could differ materially from these expectations. For details on the factors to consider, please refer to our recent SEC filings and today's press release. All of these documents are available on our website at brunswick.com. During our presentation, we will be referring to certain non-GAAP financial information. Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures are provided in the appendix to this presentation and the reconciliation sections of the unaudited consolidated financial statements accompanying today's results. I will now turn the call over to Dave.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Thank you, Steve. Brunswick delivered a strong second quarter despite the turbulent external backdrop, with financial performance ahead of expectations and year-over-year sales growth across all reporting segments for the fourth consecutive quarter. Our premium and core buyers portfolio remained resilient, and our first half boat retail sales were essentially flat when adjusted for the purposeful value model rationalization actions initiated last year. Marine OEM growth rates moderated somewhat from the exceptional first quarter growth, but remained very healthy and drove gains for Mercury Marine and Navico Group. Boating participation also remains very strong and continues to drive our recurring revenue parts and accessories, aftermarket, and subscription boating businesses. Boat and engine pipelines continue to be lean and fresh, with balanced channel dynamics. With global boat pipelines down approximately 1,800 units for the year, we're well-positioned for wholesale growth with any future market improvement.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Our overall net sales of $1.6 billion increased 8% year-over-year, with growth across all segments driven by pricing actions taken in recent periods, improved mix, new product traction, continued healthy OEM demand, and strong operational execution. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.56 increased 34% versus last year, benefiting from the same underlying business drivers as well as recognized tariff refunds, partially offset by cost inflation, higher variable compensation, incremental tariffs, and continued product investment. Absent the net IEEPA benefit, including its associated influence on variable compensation, adjusted EPS was still significantly ahead of expectations, demonstrating the strength of our underlying business performance. All segments increased adjusted operating earnings and margin, with the exception of propulsion, which incurred additional tariffs and higher product development expenses as expected. Later, Ryan will discuss the overall financial impact of the IEEPA refunds on our results and guidance for the year.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Finally, we've repurchased $35 million of shares year-to-date, and will retire $160 million or more of debt by year-end, underscoring our commitment to both maintaining an investment-grade balance sheet and returning capital to our shareholders. Turning now to external conditions. While fuel prices have clearly not dampened enthusiasm for boating participation, the prolonged conflict in the Middle East, combined with the impacts of inflation on affordability, are negatively impacting consumer sentiment, particularly amongst buyers of our valued products. We continue to closely monitor the tariff environment and successfully drive mitigation actions. We now expect total gross IEEPA refunds of approximately $60 million-$70 million. We recognized approximately $30 million of submitted and accepted refunds in the quarter, with the remaining expected phase two refunds of approximately $10 million reflected in full-year guidance.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

The window for the balance of our refund submissions beyond phase two is not yet open and not yet reflected in guidance. We're also monitoring the newly introduced Section 301 and Canadian tariffs, which we currently estimate will drive roughly $5 million of net negative incremental 2026 impact, and we'll continue to adjust our mitigation actions as the environment evolves. Dealer and OEM sentiment is stable but cautious, with wholesale order rates remaining fairly steady, and we continue to outperform the market, expanding our share of wallet and capturing new OEM wins with well-received new products. Moving to segment performance, our sustained momentum across our businesses and product lines is evident from the fact that all segments delivered year-over-year sales growth for the fourth consecutive quarter. As discussed earlier, adjusted operating margin also expanded across the enterprise in the quarter, except in the propulsion segment.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

However, our incremental 2026 tariff payments are first-half biased, and we expect all segments will expand operating margin over the next two quarters. After a very strong first quarter, U.S. outboard engine industry retail units finished the first-half slightly down versus prior year. However, our propulsion business delivered another strong quarter, with year-over-year sales growth driven by steady OEM demand, continued high market share, and strong international momentum. First-half global and U.S. outboard wholesale orders were up over 10%, with very strong June order activity. U.S. outboard rolling 12 share was down slightly to 46%, driven primarily by below five horsepower registration declines at volume retailers and a strong 2025 comp, with OEM share remaining robust. Internationally, Mercury is driving strong share gains, with double-digit unit order increases year-to-date and rolling 12 outboard share up across most regions, with significant gains in Asia and Latin America.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Notably in Brazil, we've increased share 600 basis points since 2019. Our five new engine platforms are on track, with four launching in the next two years. We're also pursuing growth opportunities in repower, government, and commercial markets, which we'll share more about at our upcoming Investor Day. Engine pipelines remain lean, with U.S. outboard pipelines down 7% in the quarter versus prior year. Engine Parts & Accessories delivered another strong quarter, supported by healthy boating participation and resulting product demand, along with past pricing actions. Combined with continued distribution gains, this drove higher sales and the products and distribution businesses both contributed to improved profitability, underscoring the stability and attractive operating leverage of this recurring revenue business. Our second quarter sales were the highest since 2022 and up across all global regions, with Land Sea rolling 12 distribution share increasing again by 130 basis points.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

The Engine P&A business and Navico Group continue to work together to exploit combined footprint opportunities. Navico Group continued its strong performance trajectory, with sales growth across its business lines supported by new products, multiple OEM wins, sustained aftermarket demand, and ongoing operational improvement actions, exclusive of the net IEEPA impact, expanded its core operating margin by over 250 basis points versus prior year. We were also excited to finalize our first OEM supply agreement with Saxdor for Simrad Autopilot, with more expected to be finalized soon. Lastly, our boat segment grew both sales and margins, benefiting from the increased emphasis on premium core brands, pricing actions, and continued growth in Freedom Boat Club. We expect continued strong margin expansion over the remainder of the year, benefiting from mix, portfolio actions, and operating efficiencies.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

The latest SSI data for June year to date shows U.S. main powerboat segment retail down approximately 4%, impacted by sentiment, affordability, and poor weather in some northern markets. Overall, Brunswick U.S. internal retail is performing at similar levels, but with premium fiberglass and core product lines flat to prior year and pressure on value product lines as anticipated. When adjusted for our purposeful rationalization of value models, our first half U.S. retail was roughly flat versus last year. Pipelines are lean and healthy, ending down approximately 1,800 units. The business acceleration portfolio continues to deliver growth and attractive margins led by Freedom Boat Club. We recently announced our 450th global network location, and member trips were up a record 13% for the first half of the year. I will now hand the call over to Ryan for more details on our financial performance.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. Brunswick's second quarter performance came in ahead of expectations, with strong sales and earnings growth over last year. On a consolidated basis, sales were up 8%, reflecting steady OEM orders, continued strong P&A and aftermarket performance driven by healthy boating participation and pricing taken in previous periods. As Dave mentioned earlier, it was fantastic to see the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year sales growth for all segments. Adjusted operating earnings and margins were up, driven by the higher sales, IEEPA refunds, and positive mix impacts, more than offsetting higher inflationary pressures, increased variable compensation, incremental tariffs versus Q2 of 2025, and continued spending on product development, primarily in propulsion. Even absent the net impact of the IEEPA refund recognized in the quarter, adjusted operating earnings were up strongly versus the second quarter of 2025.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

This resulted in adjusted EPS of $1.56, up $0.34 over last year, an outstanding result. We delivered a robust $278 million of free cash flow in the quarter, just slightly behind Q2 of 2025 due solely to the second quarter timing of our annual profit-sharing payment. This simple bridge shows the key factors of our Q2 adjusted EPS performance. From our Q2 guidance midpoint of $1.15, we had a net beat of a little less than $0.20 in the quarter due to our outstanding business performance. We then recognized a net IEEPA benefit of slightly more than $0.20, which is the gross IEEPA refunds accrued in Q2, netted against the related earnings impact of our enterprise-wide compensation plans. The result was an adjusted EPS of $1.56.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Looking at the first half of the year, sales were up 10%, reflecting the prior second quarter factors just mentioned, together with the exceptionally strong first quarter results. First half adjusted operating earnings increased 18% over the prior year, adjusted EPS is up 32%, and free cash flow of $161 million is ahead of last year after normalizing for the impact of enterprise compensation paid versus 2025. Moving to our segments, Propulsion had another fantastic quarter, with sales increasing 8% versus the prior year, driven by steady OEM demand and market share and pricing actions taken in recent quarters. Adjusted operating earnings were up and margins essentially flat versus prior year due to the increased sales, favorable absorption, and net IEEPA refund offsetting elevated material labor inflation, product spend, and tariffs.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Absent the net IEEPA refund, adjusted operating earnings and margins declined year-over-year due to the incremental costs just mentioned offsetting the earnings from the increased sales and positive absorption impact. As year-over-year tariff costs reverse and elevated product spend normalizes in the back half of the year, we anticipate significant margin expansion in the second half of the year, resulting in full year margin growth of more than 100 basis points for the Propulsion segment. Our Engine Parts & Accessories business delivered another strong quarter of 9% sales growth, with 16% growth in the higher margin products business. Growth in the quarter reflected strong boater participation and the resulting demand for P&A, together with past pricing actions.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Adjusted operating earnings were up 19% and adjusted operating margin increased 200 basis points, driven by the increased mix from products and the leverage on higher sales, with the net IEEPA refund offering a very slight benefit. Turning to Navico Group that had another quarter of solid growth and improved profitability. Sales grew 7% over prior year and were up across all business lines and regions, driven by increased OEM demand for new products, pricing, and boating participation supporting very strong aftermarket performance. Adjusted operating earnings increased 143%, propelled by leverage on their higher revenue and their net IEEPA refund, with the adjusted operating margin expanding by 680 basis points. Absent the net IEEPA refund impact, both adjusted earnings and margins were still up significantly.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Navico Group is solidly on track for its full-year target of increasing adjusted operating margin in excess of 100 basis points without any assistance from tariff refunds and despite inflationary impacts on inputs, including memory costs and other raw materials. Wrapping up segment results, our Boat segment increased sales by 5%, driven by beneficial mix from premium models, improved pricing and discounts, and Freedom Boat Club. Adjusted operating earnings were up 45%, with margins up 120 basis points, reflecting higher sales, the flow-through of pricing and lower discounts, and the continued focus on operational efficiencies designed to lower costs and increase gross margins throughout the portfolio. Freedom Boat Club had a very strong quarter, announcing its 450th global network location and continued increases in members and trips. IEEPA refunds had a de minimis impact on this segment.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

I will now share our updated guidance for the third quarter and full year. While certain new boat retail markets remain pressured due to continued elevated macro and geopolitical uncertainty, our portfolio of leading premium boat and engine products continue to grow sales and capture OEM and consumer share, and our recurring revenue businesses continue to benefit from committed healthy boating participation. Our disciplined execution and improvement actions also continue to drive strong operating leverage and are expected to result in materially increased adjusted operating margins and earnings this year, overcoming the approximately $40 million impact of incremental tariffs, which is slightly elevated since our last estimate due to the anticipated impact of Section 301 replacing Section 232. Our overall tariff impact is first half weighted, with the year-over-year second half impact lower than 2025. The overall result is revenue of $5.7 billion-$5.8 billion, up strongly over 2025.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Adjusted operating margins of approximately 8%, up 100 basis points year-over-year, and adjusted EPS of $4.35-$4.75, up almost 40% at the midpoint. We are also increasing our free cash flow guidance to more than $400 million on the back of strong earnings, prudent working capital management, and the benefit of the net IEEPA refunds. Given all the moving pieces, we thought one last bridge would be helpful to show the components of our adjusted EPS guidance raise. As I mentioned earlier, absent any tariff refund impacts, our Q2 performance beat was about $0.20. From there, we anticipate a full year net IEEPA benefit of a little more than $0.30, which includes the refunds accrued in Q2, plus the remainder of our phase two refunds, which we believe will be approved in the second half of the year.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

We are not anticipating or including in guidance any phase four refunds in 2026, which could add more than $0.20 once approved. Offsetting these benefits are two primary factors. First, we anticipate incurring an additional $0.15 of material inflation in the back half of the year versus what was included in our April guidance, mostly incurred at Mercury and Navico Group. Second, we believe the tariff changes just discussed will add another approximately $0.50 to our overall cost base. These costs and benefits net to an approximate $0.30 of adjusted EPS benefit, and we are flowing it through to the full year with our EPS midpoint now $4.55 for the year, reflecting a balanced view of risks and opportunities as we navigate the continued challenging macro environment. I will now pass the call back over to Dave for concluding remarks.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Thanks, Ryan. This year, Brunswick earned 15 boating industry top product awards, the most we have ever received in a single year, with 13 different brands represented spanning boats, propulsion, vessel control, and marine electronics. This extraordinary performance, along with many other domestic and international product design and technology awards, clearly illustrates the increasing breadth and depth of our product leadership. Overall, through the first half of the year, Brunswick has secured a company record 86 awards, and we remain firmly on track to surpass 100 enterprise awards for the fifth consecutive year. As in prior years, this recognition spans products innovation, workplace culture, leadership, and corporate reputation, and reflects the strength and consistency of our organization and values. Thank you to all of our Brunswick employees whose talent and dedication makes this recognition possible.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Before we open the line for questions, while I'm very pleased and excited about Brunswick Corporation's performance and trajectory, next never rests, and there is a lot more to come, which we will share at Brunswick Corporation's Investor Day on August 11th. We'll release a prerecorded video strategy presentation on our website next week and address questions on those materials at the event's live Q&A session. The event, which will be held at Mercury Marine's headquarters in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, will also include facility tours and on-water product demonstrations. For those unable to attend, we'll also be pleased to answer follow-up questions in post-event calls. We're approaching capacity for the event, so please register if you've not already done so. With that, we'll now open the line for questions.

Operator

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment please while we poll for questions. The first question is from James Hardiman from Citi. Please go ahead.

James Hardiman
James Hardiman
Analyst at Citi

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Real shocker. I have a question on tariffs just because there's a lot of moving pieces there. Obviously, the incentive comp makes it even more complicated. I think I get it for the quarter. Maybe as we just think about the full year guide, EPS is up $0.30. Tariffs are giving you $0.30. Those sort of roughly cancel each other out. There's some operational upside, but that's being offset by inflation and Canadian tariffs. Let me know if you think that's sort of good math. As we think about the margin guide, a 25 basis point increase, is that up or down at all ex the refunds? Thanks.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Hey, James. Maybe I'll take this. Maybe I'll be just a little bit broader to start just so that everyone gets the full picture. I think we consider the tariffs paid in 2026 and then the IEEPA refunds pretty different animals. Maybe I'll take them in sections, and that'll help kind of everyone on the call. On 2026, really the only major change in the quarter was the elimination of 122. It was replaced by Section 301, and then the additional potential Canadian tariffs. Together, we think that's probably a $5 million or so bad guy, and that's really a second half hit. If you think about our incremental tariff impact from last year, that takes it from our previous range where we thought we were at the bottom of that $35 million-$45 million range and puts us squarely in the middle of approximately $40 million.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

That is embedded in the guidance. We will continue to mitigate. We'll continue to lower our China impact. That is, remember, first half loaded as the way the timing worked through last year versus this year. Bad guy in the first half and actually a neutral positive in the second half of this year due to that timing. Maybe on IEEPA refunds, we think about it in a couple of ways. We've been pretty public with Gross numbers. Just a gross before any other impacts to the P&L of $60 million of IEEPA refunds. You saw today in the materials that looks to be now between $60 million and $70 million. Two very key things here. First, this is a gross number.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

We understand the refunds are a reduction of COGS, which ultimately is an increase to earnings, but that gross number does not include the associated impacts the refunds have on other parts of the P&L, namely variable compensation. That's why we're talking about it as a net number, which as we turn the calendar to 2027, will enable everyone to back out the net impact, which is really the correct way to think about it. The other item is there's a lot of timing involved here. IEEPA refunds are really in three phases. There's phase one, which is very small, received and recognized in the quarter in Q2, but very small. Phase two, which is about 60% of the refunds, and I'll get to that in a second. Phase four, which is the remainder.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Importantly, we are not anticipating currently any phase four refunds to be accrued or any benefit in 2026. Have not included that number in any guidance. That's part of the $60 million to $70 million of gross that will eventually be received, but it is not included in any 2026 guidance. That leaves the treatment of phase two IEEPA, simply about $30 million of that, as you correctly mentioned, $30 million was accepted in Q2 and therefore included in the results. Once netted for enterprise-wide variable comp impacts, it represented about a 20% benefit in the quarter. That's what you saw on the bridge. The remaining, about $10 million of phase two, was not accepted in Q2 due to some technicalities in the system.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

We are confident that they will be accepted, although not in the Q2 numbers, they are a benefit in the second half, which we included about $0.10 into the full year guidance. That really is all things tariff. To roll it forward to your full year guidance question. We had a $0.20 beat in Q2, that had nothing to do with tariffs. We had another approximately $0.20 of net IEEPA, which we talked about, resulting in the $0.40 overall beat versus our midpoint of $1.15 from April. If you look forward to the second half, we see about $0.20 of risk on the macros, which is inflation and the increased tariffs that I discussed, which is offset by that $0.10 of phase two goodness.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

If you think about what flowed through, you really got the whole Q2 beat that was not related to tariffs and about half of the net IEEPA goodness in the quarter is for $0.30. A raise from $4.25 to $4.55 in the midpoint. Long answer, but lots of things covered there. Hope that answers your question.

James Hardiman
James Hardiman
Analyst at Citi

That's really good. I think it's a good way to frame it. I guess on to theory what should really matter, and that's sort of the demand environment. You talked about retail all in being down four, I think flattish ex the sort of value units rationalization. What can you tell us about the momentum within those numbers? You guys started out the year really strong. I think January and February were up meaningfully, then March was weaker. Here in Q2 was weaker than 1Q. Is there anything that we should be drawing from that? I think the tiebreaker is always the last month, right? Which everybody will want to focus on. Anything you can tell us to help us frame sort of where demand appears to be headed with the most sort of updated data points that you have. Thank you.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Thank you, Jimmy. I'll take that one. I think we clearly are continuing to see this K-shaped economy effect that we've seen for some time now, and it's almost like there are two distinct markets at the moment, and maybe we should work to frame them as best we can going forward. There clearly is a premium market which is very stable. We said that premium fiberglass was roughly flat, but in fact it was exactly flat, basically almost to the unit. Boston Whaler and Sea Ray and Navan are very solid. Continue to be very solid. Also, our core portfolio is very solid, flat almost exactly, which includes kind of premium pontoons, premium fishing.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

What we are seeing that we talked about earlier really, is that those kind of fiberglass runabout boats where people are not maybe as committed to boating as part of their lifestyle. They're not typically fishing boats. They're not premium boats. That's where we're seeing the softness. It's not new. It's exactly what we talked about and exactly why we rationalize the product line in that area and also rationalize the manufacturing footprint in that area. We're kind of right sizing our business in the softer part of the market with still potential for rebound. Boat Group actually probably sacrificed some revenue to do this, but gained about 100 basis points of margin, which is exactly what we intended. I think, we will continue to look at both parts of the market going forward. A part that is very solid and resilient and has good momentum.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

I think you'll see some positive things going on, particularly in saltwater fishing in the balance of the year. This part of the market that we're, I guess, leaning away from, which is the less committed part of the market, that kind of general runabout fiberglass, where we are seeing people just more cautious and more fragile, I guess, from the overall economy.

James Hardiman
James Hardiman
Analyst at Citi

Got it. Thank you both.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Thanks, James.

Operator

The next question is from Randy Konik from Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Randy Konik
Randy Konik
Analyst at Jefferies

Yeah, thanks a lot, and good morning. I guess, Ryan, for you, what I wanted to try to get to understand, maybe qualitatively, if you don't want to give quantitatively, is just how we should be thinking about the long-term margin power of the business. You talked about it in the answers to questions or script, in terms of continuing to work on things like reducing your manufacturing footprint, i.e., fixed cost expense in the business. I'm just trying to understand, as we think about over time, the demand environment improving, not focusing on what's going on in the next 90 days or the last 30 days, but the next two to three to five years.

Randy Konik
Randy Konik
Analyst at Jefferies

Just want to understand that in an assumption of an improving long-term detail of demand, how we should be thinking about the margin power of the company overall, and maybe just high level, how we think about the different segments as it compares to prior cycle high margins maybe achieved during COVID, et cetera. How we want to think about that, similar or not similar this time around versus last time around? That'd be super helpful. Thanks.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Yeah, Randy, I'll take that. The very good news is in four days, you're going to get a whole lot of detail on exactly that, which is what do we think our earnings power is in a market that we think may not provide as much help as maybe in previous plans anticipated. We agree. We think there is still growth in the market. We think we're at a trough in terms of units. There's different views on how fast that returns to a more normalized view. The one constant is that Brunswick can continue to drive earnings in a variety of market conditions, as we've proven already. Without getting too detailed, because I do want people to see all the specifics that will be in our investor materials, no one's going to be surprised to see the operating leverage that's embedded in our plan.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

It's north of 20%. It can get to something that's north of that in various conditions, and that's really across the portfolio. There's not one single business unit that is a laggard or far ahead. I will give you a couple just things to think about. Navico Group continues to grow and have gross margin growth. That has the highest product and variable margins of anything across our company, and that will continue to be a strength, I think, as we progress through the next strategic plan. Our parts and accessories business also continues to be extremely strong from a margin standpoint, but just consistent as can be. This year, boating usage we know is up, and that's been reflected then in a very strong year from the P&A side. Propulsion and boats both continue to grow margins throughout any conditions.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

You've seen the boat business at a wholesale level that they haven't really seen in a decade still grow margins this year, as Dave mentioned a second ago, while propulsion continues to be flat to slightly up and will be up for the full year despite strong product spending and the tariff impact. I think the investor community is going to be very pleased to see the innate growth across all of our businesses that would be supercharged in the event there's just a little bit of industry help or market help. Also given that the pipelines are kind of at historic lows across our portfolio. Hope that helps, and certainly Monday morning, the additional information, it will be very helpful.

Randy Konik
Randy Konik
Analyst at Jefferies

Super helpful. Then can you just maybe quantify or remind us, you just mentioned it, the extra spend and pull forward that is related to, I think, some of these higher horsepower engine programs. I think you said four or five programs are in process. A couple or four of the five, I think, are launching in the next one to two years. Just curious on how we should be thinking about that extent of the pull forward and the duration of that expense, such that when we get to, let's say, I don't know, second quarter, first quarter 2027, is that an expense we lap and those pull forwarded expenses start to kind of pull off a little bit? Just high level how we should be thinking of that as well.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

It's about $20 million-$25 million of spend, and that's been spread across a couple of quarters. Yes, by the time you get to next year, the product spend may not be dramatically lower, this is a lumpier time. Remember, these engine programs ebb and flow over time, and you may get to a point which we have over the last couple of quarters where each engine program is at a spot where it's at a little heavier spend, that's what you're seeing. Do not take away that we're going to stop spending on engine product development because that is a core competency of ours and keeps us well ahead of our competition. A little bit lumpy. Think about it as about $20 million spread over a couple of quarters.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Again, it'll soften not dramatically so as we go to the out years.

Randy Konik
Randy Konik
Analyst at Jefferies

Awesome. Thanks, guys.

Operator

The next question is from Matthew Boss, from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Matthew Boss
Matthew Boss
Analyst at JPMorgan

Great. Thanks. Dave, could you just elaborate on the progression of boat retail sales into the core summer selling season? With retail sales tracking down 4% year-to-date, any change to flat to up slightly for the year? Any change separately in your outlook for wholesale units this year?

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

On the retail side, I think given the softer value part of the market, I think flattish is probably where we'll end up. It could be slightly down on a unit basis. Entirely due to the value part of the market. We still see the premium and core parts of the market as very solid at the moment. We would say that they're likely to be flat, those parts of the market, through the balance of the year. By the end of July, which is where we're at right now, that's about 75% of retail for the year. That will be modest kind of changes going forward. I think maybe what I didn't say earlier is, although we have to recognize that different parts of the market behave differently.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

If you're looking in the automotive market at the moment at pickups and SUVs, you're having a pretty good time of it. If you're looking at passenger cars, you're not having quite such a good time of it. That is very analogous to what's going on in the boating market at the moment. We lean into premium and core. That is where the vast majority of our profitability is. That remains very steady with plenty of upside opportunity, which we'll also talk about in Investor Day. The other thing I didn't really say was, of course, we are participating in, if you like, the value part of the market through Freedom Boat Club. There are alternative ways to get at that consumer, in ways that are less subject to inflation, less subject to interest rates, all those kind of things.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

I think that we are mixing our approaches to the market appropriately, exactly for how the market is behaving and will continue to do so. We did see really strong performance from Freedom Boat Club this year. The other part of the market that we don't talk about enough, even though we try to, is boating participation, which has been incredibly strong. If people own a boat, they are using it extensively despite fuel price increases as we anticipated. There is no shortage of interest in going boating. We're just seeing this one part of the market, which is a bit less committed and a bit more economically fragile, showing some softness. That is really not super material to our results, as you've seen.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Maybe just to add on that, you did have a wholesale question and just to piggyback off of what Dave is saying, wholesale sales for our premium core products as we look at the 2027 model year, which we're now in, continue to be very strong, especially at Whaler. As we think about wholesale assumptions for the year, I don't think there's any material changes. If there'd be any changes in the numbers, just the raw numbers, it would be premium and core continue to be strong and maybe up a little bit over expectations while value would be slightly down. Really good momentum on wholesale as we think about the back half of this year.

Matthew Boss
Matthew Boss
Analyst at JPMorgan

Great color. That's the block.

Operator

The next question is from Joe Altobello from Raymond James. Please go ahead.

Joe Altobello
Joe Altobello
Analyst at Raymond James

Thanks. Hey, guys. Good morning. I guess first on shipments, in the back half of the year, how are you guys thinking about wholesale versus retail with respect to both boats and engines? Would you expect dealers to end the year higher in terms of weeks on hand?

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Yeah, I think it'll be flattish as on a weeks on hand basis, Joe. I think what we are seeing from dealers, and actually you see it in the dealer sentiment studies, is they think that they are approaching the right level of inventory, and I speak about that on a total market basis. For us, we have very lean and fresh inventory levels, so we have not seen any diminishing trends in wholesale orders. We believe orders will remain very solid, which will probably mean that weeks on hand will probably be pretty flat through this year.

Joe Altobello
Joe Altobello
Analyst at Raymond James

Got it. Just moving on to the U.S. outboard market, are you seeing any shifts in terms of pricing from some of your competitors at this point?

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

No. We are not seeing any material shifts in pricing. We continue to see very modest pricing. We are continuing to follow that. As you know, we price at a premium. We're continuing to maintain that premium, but we're not seeing a lot of pricing activity at the moment.

Joe Altobello
Joe Altobello
Analyst at Raymond James

Okay, great. Thank you.

Operator

The next question is from Anna Glaessgen of B. Riley. Please go ahead.

Anna Glaessgen
Anna Glaessgen
Analyst at B. Riley

Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. I'd like to ask on the Boat segment rationalization, do you expect that you would continue to see rationalization spill into 2027, or should 2026 be the end of that impact? Thanks.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

I think we'll continue to look at it, to be honest. I think we did. Really, the product lines that we took out, I think were the right product lines at the time, but we'll continue to see how the market develops. We don't believe that there aren't new opportunities in the value part of the market, and we're looking at different kind of model architectures and ways to approach that part of the market that might offer something desirable in that market and a little bit different. We're going to continue to be innovative, but if we need to rationalize more, then yeah, sure, we'll rationalize some more, and try and make sure that we maintain scale, but lean into the growing parts of the market and the higher margin parts of the market. Yeah, it'll be dynamic. I can't say it's complete yet.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

We're continuing to look at it.

Anna Glaessgen
Anna Glaessgen
Analyst at B. Riley

Got it. Thanks. Just one clarification. We've seen some pretty significant operating margin expansion in Navico through the first half of the year. The full-year guide, I believe, is for up 200 basis points. Is that 200 excluding the IEEPA refunds that hit, so on an organic basis? Because otherwise it seems to imply a potential compression in the back half.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

No, Anna, that is not. I'm sorry. Yes, the IEEPA refunds are included in all of our guidance, kind of as anticipated. Navico benefited from that in the quarter. Even if you take that out, right, even if you take out any IEEPA goodness, they are still up 260 basis points in the quarter. Still an outstanding result. If you think about the remaining portion of the year, Q3 we anticipate should be up. Q4 probably closer to flat to get to your guidance for the full year. It was a one-time kind of good guy for the quarter that will be then spread out for the full year. To be clear, they are growing margins absent the IEEPA refund for a full-year basis, similar to they did last year.

Anna Glaessgen
Anna Glaessgen
Analyst at B. Riley

Okay. Got it. Thanks, Ryan. Super helpful.

Operator

The next question is from Gerrick Johnson of Seaport Research Partners. Please go ahead.

Gerrick Johnson
Gerrick Johnson
Analyst at Seaport Research Partners

All right. Good morning. Thank you. Hey, some questions on the associated variable comp related to the tariff refunds. One, can you explain the mechanics? Is everyone getting a retroactive bonus at Brunswick? How much of this variable comp, what's the dollar number that we're offsetting these refunds with in the second quarter and then also in the back half? Lastly on this, of those refunds, how are they spread across the segments?

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Hey, Gerrick. Well, maybe Ryan and I can tag team this one a bit. No, nobody is getting a retroactive bonus of any kind. Our variable comp plans depend on free cash flow, which was stronger, and also on earnings or earnings per share. Long term is cash flow return on investment. Essentially, and typically we have some form of linear variable comp curve or almost linear comp curve, where roughly 100% of kind of forecast earnings and cash flow for the year equals 100% of variable comp. When the tariffs hit last year, we did not ask for any adjustments to our variable comp. As they flowed through the P&L, we did not hit our target, and we did not get paid at 100% variable comp. In fact, we took a pretty big hit to variable comp.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

As the refunds flow through the P&L again, they drive our financial performance to above target, and therefore people get paid at or above target. It is simply our kind of linearity working from one year to the next. Last year, we got paid lower because of tariffs running through the P&L. This year, we get potentially paid more due to tariffs running through the P&L. Our curves are typically linear or close to linear.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Gerrick, just on some of the technicalities in terms of spread across, it's pretty even between Mercury and Navico Group and Boat and then obviously corporate. Remember that it's not just incentive compensation on cash, there's the impact on equity as well as the impact on profit sharing. Our profit sharing, which goes to all of our employees. This will support a payment that we obviously made this year that we hope to make next year again, that goes to not only the salary folks, but also hourly as well. There's a lot of components here, but Dave had the mechanics correct.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

The nature of the KPIs are all publicly available. Yeah.

Gerrick Johnson
Gerrick Johnson
Analyst at Seaport Research Partners

Okay. We can go over those later. As you know, I like to do my own math, but I appreciate it and appreciate the explanation. Thank you.

Ryan Gwillim
Ryan Gwillim
CFO at Brunswick

Of course.

Operator

The next question is from Craig Kennison from Baird. Please go ahead.

Craig Kennison
Craig Kennison
Analyst at Baird

Hey, good morning. Thank you for taking my question as well. Dave, I'm curious, what indicators do you track that give you confidence marine usage remains healthy? Then what signals do you need to see to believe that boat usage ultimately will lead to a stronger replenishment cycle?

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Yeah. Hi, Craig. Yeah. We have a number of indicators. Obviously, some of them are more real-time than others. The most real-time really is Freedom Boat Club data, which shows member boat trips up 13% in the first half of the year. The interesting thing there is, if you wanted to design an experiment to look at the effect of fuel prices on boating, you couldn't have a better experimental design than Freedom Boat Club, because it's the only variable. Basically, people pay their monthly fees, and then they pay fuel costs. You couldn't design a more pure experiment, really. What you've seen is that the effects of fuel prices have no effect on boating participation. In fact, Freedom boating is up substantially. That's a nice unique insight that we have at Brunswick. You can also see, indirectly, the strength of our P&A business.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

We can look into and analyze that more closely at what kind of categories are being sold. That certainly supports the fact that people are using their boats extensively. We also track other indicators after the year, but unfortunately, it's really a trailing indicator. Obviously, we get registration data that, as you know, has been very solid and, in fact, is growing in terms of the parts of the market in which Brunswick participates. That's the kind of seven million units out of the 10 that are registered, which has grown from around six and a half over the past 10 years or so.

Craig Kennison
Craig Kennison
Analyst at Baird

Thanks. A follow-up on Mercury. It's been taking share, I think, for several years now, and that typically comes with a P&A annuity, maybe with a lag. Are you seeing any evidence that some of the share gains you've had in recent years are starting to impact P&A demand this year and beyond?

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Yes. I think that it's a very positive trend, and certainly, we'll talk more about it at Investor Day. As we gain share, particularly in high horsepower, we have more and more captive parts. As you know, Craig, and as others will see during Investor Day at the facility, it's almost impossible to create knockoffs of any of those parts. Any replacement is going to come from us. As the products get more sophisticated, it is very, very difficult for anybody to do anything independently to replace our own parts as well. I think at one point in time, as stern drive engines became less popular, there was a bit of a fear that the P&A annuity would be diluted a bit, but in fact, that's not the case.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Those large outboards have really taken the place of larger stern drive engines with a lot more captive content. Yeah, we're excited about the future of P&A. We're talking about hundreds of tens of thousands of units being added to the kind of P&A annuity every year, so that it is a little bit dilute. Yeah, there are a lot of very positive trends about the strength of our P&A annuity, both in terms of volume and margin. Obviously, the more captive content we have, the more margin opportunity we have as well.

Craig Kennison
Craig Kennison
Analyst at Baird

Thank you.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Actually, even though you didn't ask for it, Craig, maybe I'll throw in there that the fastest growing part of the market in a lot of ways is the electronics part of the market. Navico's aftermarket is another really exciting part of the business that we obviously are now participating in more.

Operator

Next question is from Tristan Thomas-Martin from BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Tristan Thomas-Martin
Tristan Thomas-Martin
Analyst at BMO Capital Markets

Hey, good morning. Just wanted one question on the P&A trend. Is there a way to think about the potential West Marine kind of bankruptcy store closure benefit? As in, was that a benefit in the quarter in any way to think about it moving forward? Thanks.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

I think a little bit of a short-term headwind, I would say. The reality is we are the biggest marine distributor in the world. Our people are going to get their parts and supplies somehow. For the parts of the market that are more dealer and distributor oriented, some of that business could certainly translate to our Land Sea and Kellogg and other parts of our distribution network. Yeah, that's a possibility.

Tristan Thomas-Martin
Tristan Thomas-Martin
Analyst at BMO Capital Markets

Thank you.

Operator

At this time, we would like to turn the call back to Dave for some concluding remarks.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

Thank you, everybody, for your questions. Another very encouraging quarter, completing a very strong first half of 2026. Solid retail, revenue up substantially across all businesses, margin expansion, strong leverage, and continued really strong free cash flow generation. Despite the new boat market that has stabilized but is certainly seeking a solid rebound, we are clearly firing on all cylinders. Great new products, structural cost reductions coming through. Our portfolio is oriented towards and leaning into exactly the right parts of the market, and our recurring revenue businesses continue to really thrive and had a particularly strong first half. As I've said earlier, you'll hear more about that and a lot of exciting new growth opportunities for Brunswick at our investor event on August 11th at Mercury Marine's headquarters. You'll meet the leadership team, you'll tour Mercury's facility, and get some fantastic on-water experience as well.

David Foulkes
David Foulkes
Chairman and CEO at Brunswick

If you haven't registered, please do soon, and we really look forward to seeing you all. Thank you.

Operator

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

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