In The Rough: Callaway Lowers Q1 Sales And Earnings Outlook

Callaway Golf said that Q1 sales and earnings “would fall short of Wall Street’s expectations as the company reworks an aggressive product strategy that led to trouble last year,” according to Mike Freeman of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Callaway now expects revenue of about $300M and earnings of $0.26-0.28 per share, including a $0.03 integration charge “linked to the purchase of Top-Flite” in ’03. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial “were looking for higher operating profit of [$0.49] per share on revenue of $339.3[M].” Gilford Securities analyst Casey Alexander: “I think the whole industry is likely to miss in the first quarter because everywhere people play golf there was four inches of rain every day.” Callaway lost $10.1M in ’04 and made a $45.5M profit in ’03 (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/7).