Golf equipment and apparel company Acushnet (NYSE: GOLF) reported Q1 CY2025 results topping the market’s revenue expectations, but sales were flat year on year at $703.4 million. Its GAAP profit of $1.62 per share was 22.9% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Acushnet (GOLF) Q1 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $703.4 million vs analyst estimates of $698.2 million (flat year on year, 0.7% beat)
- EPS (GAAP): $1.62 vs analyst estimates of $1.32 (22.9% beat)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $138.9 million vs analyst estimates of $136.8 million (19.7% margin, 1.5% beat)
- Operating Margin: 16.3%, in line with the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow was -$131.5 million compared to -$116.8 million in the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $3.90 billion
Company Overview
Producer of the acclaimed Titleist Pro V1 golf ball, Acushnet (NYSE: GOLF) is a design and manufacturing company specializing in performance-driven golf products.
Sales Growth
Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but the best consistently grow over the long haul. Over the last five years, Acushnet grew its sales at a sluggish 8.2% compounded annual growth rate. This was below our standard for the consumer discretionary sector and is a rough starting point for our analysis.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within consumer discretionary, a stretched historical view may miss a company riding a successful new product or trend. Acushnet’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed as its annualized revenue growth of 2.2% over the last two years was below its five-year trend. 
We can better understand the company’s revenue dynamics by analyzing its three most important segments: Titleist Balls, Titleist Clubs, and FootJoy, which are 30.3%, 29.5%, and 25.4% of revenue. Over the last two years, Acushnet’s Titleist Balls (golf balls) and Titleist Clubs (golf clubs) revenues averaged year-on-year growth of 5.6% and 7.3% while its FootJoy revenue (apparel) averaged 4.5% declines.
This quarter, Acushnet’s $703.4 million of revenue was flat year on year but beat Wall Street’s estimates by 0.7%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 1% over the next 12 months, similar to its two-year rate. This projection doesn't excite us and indicates its products and services will see some demand headwinds.
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Operating Margin
Acushnet’s operating margin might fluctuated slightly over the last 12 months but has remained more or less the same, averaging 11.9% over the last two years. This profitability was higher than the broader consumer discretionary sector, showing it did a decent job managing its expenses.
This quarter, Acushnet generated an operating profit margin of 16.3%, in line with the same quarter last year. This indicates the company’s overall cost structure has been relatively stable.
Earnings Per Share
Revenue trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth – for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.
Acushnet’s EPS grew at a spectacular 23.4% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, higher than its 8.2% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became more profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.
In Q1, Acushnet reported EPS at $1.62, up from $1.35 in the same quarter last year. This print easily cleared analysts’ estimates, and shareholders should be content with the results. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Acushnet’s full-year EPS of $3.60 to grow 2.9%.
Key Takeaways from Acushnet’s Q1 Results
We enjoyed seeing Acushnet beat analysts’ revenue, EPS, and EBITDA expectations this quarter. Overall, we think this was a decent quarter with some key metrics above expectations. The stock remained flat at $64.98 immediately following the results.
Sure, Acushnet had a solid quarter, but if we look at the bigger picture, is this stock a buy? We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free.
