Johnson Outdoors, Inc. (JOUT) Chair and CEO Helen Johnson-Leipold, on a Friday afternoon conference call with analysts, shared her  perspective on the company’s fiscal 2025 performance provided an update on the strategic priorities for the businesses under the company’s umbrella.

“After a slow start to the beginning of the year, new product successes drove double-digit growth in the second half of the year, resulting in a solid finish to fiscal 2025,” she began, sharing that total company sales for the full fiscal year were flat compared to the prior year.

Sales grew 28.2 percent in the fiscal fourth quarter ended October 3, with robust increases in the Fishing and Diving segments offsetting double-digit declines in the Camping & Watercraft Recreation segment, due in large part to the closeout of the Eureka! brand product after the JOUT exited that brand.

Losses shrank in both the full-year and Q4 periods due to improving gross margin and expense reductions.

“Although we still have a lot of work to do to get our profitability where it needs to be, our operating loss of $16.2 million improved compared to fiscal 2024,” she added. “While the marketplace is still uncertain, we feel good about the momentum we’re seeing and the execution of our plans to accelerate the growth of our business and brands.”

Fiscal Fourth-Quarter Revenues
Johnson Outdoors noted that the fourth quarter is its smallest due to the seasonality of the warm-weather outdoor recreation equipment industry.

Total company net sales in the fiscal fourth quarter were $135.8 million, up from $105.9 million a year ago.

  • Fishing segment sales, which include Minn Kota and Humminbird, jumped 39.1 percent to $101.1 million.
  • Camping & Watercraft Recreation segment sales, including Old Town canoes and kayaks, Carlisle paddles and Jetboil outdoor cooking systems, totaled $11.9 million, down 13.3 percent from $13.7 million a year ago.
  • Diving segment sales, consisting of the ScubaPro brand, increased 17.5 percent to $22.8 million from $19.4 million a year ago.

“New product successes drove positive momentum in the second half of the year, resulting in a solid finish to our 2025 fiscal year,” said Johnson-Leipold. “In the midst of ongoing uncertainties in the marketplace, we continue to invest and execute on our strategic priorities: innovation, operational efficiencies and e-commerce. We are confident these are the right drivers for future company success.”

Fourth Quarter Profitability and Expenses
Gross margin improved year-over-year to 36.2 percent of net sales from 23.5 percent in the year-ago period, said to be mainly due to increased sales volumes, lower promotional pricing, and a decrease in inventory reserves over the prior year’s fourth quarter.

Operating expenses decreased 15.3 percent to $57.3 million, driven by cost containment efforts. As a percent of sales, operating expenses were reduced to 42.2 percent from 63.9 percent a year ago.

The operating loss in the fourth quarter of $8.2 million was said to compare favorably to a loss of $42.8 million in the prior-year fourth quarter.

Loss before income taxes was $5.0 million in the current year quarter, compared to a loss of $39.7 million in the prior year fourth quarter. Net loss for the fourth quarter was $29.1 million compared to a loss of $34.3 million in fiscal 2024.

“Heading into fiscal 2026, we feel confident that our ongoing investment in the consumer-driven innovation and digital and e-commerce excellence, along with our continued hard work on operational efficiencies are the right drivers to position Johnson Outdoors for future success,” the CEO concluded.

Fiscal Full-Year Revenues
Johnson Outdoors reported that after a slow start to the fiscal year, it saw double-digit growth in the second half.  Total revenue in the year was essentially flat at $592.4 million versus fiscal 2024 revenue of $592.8 million.

Fishing Segment
Fishing segment revenue increased 1.5 percent to $459.2 million in fiscal 2025, driven primarily by the success of new products launched during the year.

“In Fishing, demand exceeded expectations for Humminbird’s new XPLORE Series and MEGA Live 2 fishfinders,” the CEO shared. “In addition to XPLORE winning best in category marine electronics honors at ICAST this summer, we were also honored to recently receive the Anglers’ Choice Award. This is a meaningful award because consumers themselves directly vote for their favorite new fishing product. As always, we’re focused on finding out what anglers want and need and then turning those insights into cutting-edge technologies to give them the best fishing experiences possible. We will continue to invest in being an innovation leader to drive future growth.”

Diving Segment
Diving segment sales were up 2.5 percent to $75.4 million for the full year, due to modest improvements in market conditions across certain regions, as well as a favorable foreign currency translation impact on sales.

“In Diving, sales were up for the fiscal year due to modest improvements in certain regional markets,” the CEO noted. “While we continue to work on integrating the acquisition of a long-time supplier during the fiscal year, we also focused our efforts on innovation.”

She said that Scubapro recently launched the new Hydros Pro 2, a buoyancy control device built for ultimate performance in all dive conditions.

“Hydros Pro 2 builds on the award-winning legacy of our original Hydros Pro, and we’ve seen great reception so far with lots of enthusiasm at DEMA, the world’s largest scuba diving trade show,” Johnson-Leipold added.  “We look forward to shipping Hydros Pro 2 beginning this month.”

Camping and Watercraft Recreation Segment
Camping and Watercraft Recreation segment revenue reportedly decreased 12.9 percent to $58.1 million for the full fiscal year, said to be primarily due to the exit of the Eureka! brand.

“In our Camping and Watercraft business, sales declined for fiscal 2025, driven primarily by the closeout of Eureka! inventory in 2024 after we exited that brand. Excluding the impact of Eureka! sales in the prior year, this segment grew by 2 percent year-over-year,” Johnson-Leipold explained.

She added that demand for JetBoil’s new fast boil cooking systems continued to outpace expectations and also said Old Town’s fishing kayak line is doing well in a watercraft marketplace that overall is still struggling.

“Both Old Town and Jetboil remain strong leaders in their markets, and we are committed to the long-term opportunity in these two brands,” she said.

Fiscal Full-Year Profitability and Expenses
Gross margin increased to 35.1 percent in fiscal 2025, compared to 33.9 percent in the prior year. The improvement in gross margin between years was primarily due to improved overhead absorption and reduced inventory reserves compared to the prior year. Additionally, cost-saving initiatives helped offset increases in material costs.

Operating expenses decreased from the prior year by $20.2 million, primarily due to a $11.2 million goodwill impairment charge in the Fishing segment in the prior year, a decrease in promotional spending, and approximately $3.6 million of lower deferred compensation costs between years, which is entirely offset in Other Expense.

Total company operating loss was $16.2 million in fiscal 2025, compared to an operating loss of $43.5 million in the prior fiscal year.

Loss before income taxes was $9.3 million in fiscal 2025, compared to a pretax loss of $29.9 million in fiscal 2024. The improvement was mainly due to the increase in gross margin and the decrease in operating expenses discussed above.

Net loss for the fiscal year was $34.3 million, or a loss of $3.35 per diluted share, versus a net loss of $26.5 million, or a loss of $2.60 per diluted share, in the prior fiscal year. The company recorded income tax expense of $25.0 million in 2025, compared to a tax benefit of $3.3 million in 2024.   In fiscal 2025, our effective income tax rate was impacted by a $25.9 million non-cash reserve on U.S. deferred tax assets. This reserve reflects the company’s assessment of the realizability of deferred tax assets considering recent operating losses, and it may be released in future periods when profitability improves.

Other Financial Information
The company reported cash and investments of $176.4 million as of October 3, 2025, a $14.4 million increase from the prior year, with no debt on its balance sheet. Depreciation and amortization totaled $20.6 million, up from $19.6 million in fiscal 2024. Capital spending totaled $16.0 million in fiscal 2025, down from $22.0 million in fiscal 2024. In September 2025, the company’s Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend to shareholders of record as of October 10, 2025, which was payable on October 24, 2025.

“Despite an operating loss for the year, we drove positive cash flow from operations as we continued to reduce inventory levels thanks to our ongoing focus on improved operational efficiency,” said David Johnson, chief financial officer. “Looking ahead, we will continue to strategically manage costs while at the same time making critical investments to strengthen the business.”

Image courtesy Johnson Outdoors/Cannon