In the last 52 weeks the stock of Brunswick corporation has soared from a low of $2.18 to well over $15. That kind of stock price rise is extremely rare with average returns on stocks over the last 50 years coming in at around 8% with the figure rising to around 12% for total return with dividends. This 700% rise is the sort of thing usually only realized by companies with names like Google and Apple. But in the last year Google and Apple investors have had paltry returns compared to the stockholders of Brunswick.
Brunswick, well known to our readers for their pool tables, is actually a boat company. And the reason for their stock rise is rooted in the recent Miami boat show where, according to CNBC, new boat sales are up significantly from last year, with some dealers saying they sold twice as many boats as last year. As the CEO of the largest manufacturer of recreational boats, Dusty McCoy, CEO of Brunswick was cautious in his optimism. He said: "Across the industry we believe we're finding the bottom, but we're likely not quite there yet."
Though he's optimistic that the industry will
rebound, it could take up to five years, he said. Still, he emphasized
that even if sales remain flat in 2010, it will still make for a
healthier industry than in 2009, when manufacturing was down 70 percent.
For Brunswick, better-controlled inventories will allow the company to nearly halve the 20 percent and larger discounts it offered last year, McCoy said.
"Margins are recovering as the industry is recovering. The number of people wanting to buy a boat has not decreased."
