Garmin Profit up 86% - Announce Stock Split

First quarter profit at Garmin has soared and is up 86% over last year, and they announced a 2 for 1 stock split. Total revenue was up 67%, largely driven by the 252% revenue increase in the automobile segment. Obviously things in North America are going well, with a 53% increase in revenue, where they enjoy very strong market share, but things are going well in Europe too where TomTom is the leader in the market. European revenue was up 102% to ~$102 million, which by my crude calculations are about half of TomTom’s European revenue numbers. With Garmin’s recent move to Bluetooth enabled mobile GPS units, I expect this key feature to help gain market share in Europe where Bluetooth is a key feature and is more widely accepted. I’ll say again, that R&D pays off when done right, and Garmin appears to be putting their R&D into the right areas and making the right moves in this wildly expanding market. (See our article on R&D spending at Garmin)

Dr. Min Kao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, “The first quarter was another exciting quarter for Garmin. We are delighted to have delivered a record number (34) of innovative new products. These products, which include many automotive/mobile, outdoor/fitness, marine, and aviation products, have been well received by the market. We also look forward to the sell through of our new automotive/mobile products scheduled for retail delivery in the second quarter of 2006. We experienced triple digit growth in our automotive/mobile product line, which demonstrates that our products continue to be well positioned to take advantage of the growing demand for portable navigation devices both in the U.S. and in Europe. Solid growth in both our outdoor/fitness and marine segments has positioned us to meet or exceed our 2006 guidance for these segments. Through continuous innovation, we will provide compelling, competitive features like Bluetooth handsfree and creative products like the strong selling c-series and very popular nuvi , which combines navigation with industry leading features like a language translator, travel guide, MP3 player, and more. We have the focus and commitment to continue our leadership position in the rapidly expanding U.S. automotive market through 2006 and continue to grow our European market share as well.

To meet our growth goals, we continue to expand our worldwide marketing and sales efforts. We have also increased our manufacturing capacity to meet future demand and compete effectively in the global marketplace, with our new manufacturing facility anticipated to begin production in May 2006.”