Fox Factory Inc., also known as Fox Racing Shox, swung from a loss in the year-ago quarter to nearly $3 million in profits in the first quarter this year on strong growth in sales as OEM sales to the mountain biking and motorsports industries rebounded.
Sales reached $32.7 million in the first quarter ended March 31, up 62.7% from the same quarter a year earlier. Operating profits at the company, which makes suspension systems for motorsports and mountain bikes, reached $2.9 million compared to a loss of $849,000 a year earlier. Sales increases in the mountain biking sector were due to strong sales at the end of Fox’s prior model year compared to seasonably weak sales in 2009. International sales were approximately $21.4 million in the first quarter of 2010 compared to $13.3 million in 2009.
Gross profit as a percentage of sales increased 290 basis points to 28.9% to greater volume. This was offset in part by increases in material costs and an unfavorable channel mix in 2010 as a larger proportion of total net sales were in the OEM category which typically carries lower margins than Aftermarket sales.
Headquartered in Watsonville, CA, Fox Factory is owned by Compass Diversified Holdings, Inc.
