Brunswick (NYSE: BC) reported Q2 EPS of $0.99, $0.54 better than the analyst estimate of $0.45. Revenue for the quarter came in at $987.8 million versus the consensus estimate of $807.28 million.

"Our second quarter performance again demonstrated the power of our marine-focused portfolio despite the unprecedented disruption to the global economy resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic," said Brunswick Chief Executive Officer David Foulkes. "Our operations and supply-chain teams did a wonderful job of quickly and safely restarting and ramping-up our global production facilities, while rigorously applying our COVID-19 health and safety protocols. We continue to enhance these protocols to keep our 13,000 global employees safe, and I want to thank them for all their hard work, sacrifice, and vigilance during this challenging time.

All our businesses outperformed our expectations in the quarter. Our resilient, aftermarket-driven parts and accessories business supported consumers as stay-at-home restrictions were lifted and boaters returned to the water in force. Demand in the U.S. retail marine market accelerated into May and June resulting in robust new boat and engine sales, with sales to first-time purchasers or returning lapsed boaters representing approximately half of new boat sales. This surge in demand, together with the suspension of production at most of our manufacturing facilities from late-March into mid-April due to the pandemic, resulted in our lowest mid-season pipeline inventory levels in almost twenty years, with 34% fewer boats in dealer inventory versus the second quarter of 2019.

This strengthening demand, combined with market share gains, resulted in stronger top-line, earnings, and cash flow performance than anticipated. As evidenced by Mercury's announced partnership with BRP as its global outboard engine supplier of choice, our Mercury lineup of industry-leading products is driving continued share gains in areas where we have concentrated our investment. Our boat business remained profitable in the quarter despite significantly lower volume in April due to the shutdowns, and our businesses de-levered consistent with the assumptions provided on the first quarter earnings call. Finally, Freedom Boat Club continues to exceed our expectations, as evidenced by its growth to 33,000 memberships company-wide, with over 4,600 new memberships added in the second quarter alone. The Freedom fleet now exceeds 3,000 boats, with strong sales of Brunswick products into the franchise network.
Uncertainty in the global economy remains as a result of the unpredictable trajectory of the pandemic, and we will continue to focus on controlling costs through structural cost reduction actions, while remaining flexible with our capital strategy to enable investments in new products and technology. Absent significant additional disruption to demand or to our operations, we believe that these investments, together with the continued successful execution of our strategic plan, allow our 2022 financial targets, shared at our Investor Day in February, to remain in reach," Foulkes concluded.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Brunswick (BC) click here.