Michael Happe
Analyst · Baird
Thank you, Bryan. The North American RV industry continues to grow and reach historic shipment and retail levels. At last month's RVIA trade show in Louisville, Kentucky, the association projected that there would be more than 0.5 million RVs shipped from manufacturers in the United States alone. This is a record number for the industry, and calendar 2017 counts as the eighth consecutive year of recovery for the industry. The underlying drivers of growth continue to be strong. Macroeconomic conditions are steady, consumer confidence is robust, the equities markets continue to rise, access to financing is available and the costs of that financing are reasonable. Fuel prices are affordable, manufacturers are focused on driving higher levels of value in their products, and customers are increasing their use case versatility for RVs, and younger generations are engaging in the great outdoors, ultimately migrating over time to the RV lifestyle. While never completely certain, it does appear that near-term prospects for a ninth consecutive year of RV shipment growth in North America is not only possible, it's probable. And Winnebago Industries has never been better positioned to take advantage of this growth. Fiscal 2018 is off to a productive start, most certainly around the new products our teams are bringing to the market. The Motorhome business has introduced 3 brand-new platforms since mid-September. The new Class A Gas Intent is the most affordable Winnebago brand in Class A gas motorhome relative to the competition in many decades. The new Class B Revell is quite possibly one of the hottest, viral online sensations of any product ever introduced at Winnebago. Built for the extreme explorer on a versatile 4x4 platform, the Revel is gaining mainstream customer attention, and recently earned one of the best in-show awards at the RVIA trade show this fall. The new Class A Diesel Horizon grabbed the ultimate trophy, winning RV of the Year by RV Business magazine at the RVIA show. With its eye-catching, progressive, contemporary interior, setting a new bar for design excellence, not only at Winnebago, but also within the industry. The Winnebago-branded Towables' division is extending its product catalog as well and continuing to leverage its mini-naming franchise with a new mid-profile miniplus fifth wheel. And finally, Grand Design has sent a strong message to the market that its brand will continue to extend to new heights by announcing the introduction of the new Transcend, nonlaminated travel trailer, which will be produced late in our fiscal second quarter. Differentiated with a multitude of customer-valued features, the Transcend, also a best in-show recipient at the RVIA event, allows Grand Design RV to bring its dealer-preferred business strategies to the largest segment in Towables, that being Stick-and-Tin. The Transcend comes on the heels of the launch of the Reflection 150 Series fifth wheel line. At the end of the day, this is still very much a product business, and our Winnebago Industries' teams and brands are looking to set the pace of competition with these new products. It is important that Winnebago Industries ensures that we smartly invest in capacity expansion that allows us to both meet market demand that we've earned, but also doesn't result in overbuilding in a cyclical industry. At the present time, we have 3 active capacity expansion projects underway, one, the diesel expansion efforts in Junction City, Oregon, along with the resulting motorhome assembly-line reconfiguration in Forest City. Two, the construction efforts underway on the Grand Design Campus currently resulting in ultimately 40% more square feet dedicated both to more lamination capacity, but also more assembly-line space, particularly in support of the launch of the new Transcend Stick-and-Tin product just announced. And finally, we are crossing the Ts and dotting the Is on the previously announced expansion plans for the Winnebago Towables' business, another 8-figure future investment in that fast-growing division to accommodate the robust backlog. The new products and the expansion efforts you're all aware of, have always been planned in concert with one another. We anticipate impact from the motorhome and Grand Design RV projects to start being visible in the back half of fiscal 2018 period, with the Winnebago Towables' project creating a revenue benefit beginning in fiscal year 2019. As our strategic planning processes have progressed, we have centered our focus on the following 5 keys strategies that we believe will carry us through the fiscal 2020 year, and toward goals later described, one, we will build a high-performance culture, creating a unique blend of leadership, accountability and giving. Two, we will strengthen and expand our core RV businesses, reenergizing the Motorhome business and investing in profitable, Towables' growth. Three, we will elevate excellence in operations, driving higher levels of safety, quality and productivity. Four, we will leverage innovation and digital engagement to create a more connected customer experience. And finally, fifth, we will expand the new and profitable markets investigating growth inside and outside of the RV category. And with an improving balance sheet, thanks to strong cash flow generated by the businesses and the debt restructuring efforts that Bryan reviewed just minutes ago, we are ramping up our business development processes internally here. Along with a new capital allocation strategy, which places priority on organic growth opportunities and debt repayment, but also allows for possible redistribution of excess cash to our shareholders, Winnebago Industries is very much now focused on a 3-year planning horizon. We recently communicated to our employees and the investor community, 4 new long-range goals for the end of fiscal 2020. We first aspire to deliver 10%-plus unit market share of the North American RV industry, up from the 3% share we held at the end of the fiscal 2016 year, and the approximate 6.5% share we believe we hold in the market today. Secondly, we target 10% operating income yield by the end of fiscal 2020, which is almost 200 basis points higher than our current end of fiscal 2017 level. Third, we will drive to create 10% of our fiscal 2020 revenue from RV segments or new businesses that we are not present in today. And fourth, we will be asking all of our 4000-plus employees to be engaged in an activity related to employee safety, product quality, productivity or giving each of the next 3 years. These 4 goals will be part of our own North Star constellation, which we will hold ourselves accountable to, as we drive to higher levels of market and financial performance in the years ahead. With that, I would like to conclude our formal comments at this time. Importantly, it is imperative to thank the more than 4,000-plus Winnebago Industries' employees in Iowa, Indiana, Oregon and Minnesota, that are dedicated every day to creating the very best experience possible for our end customers via our products and through the craftsmanship and passion that they display. We are especially pleased our shareholders in December approved the introduction of a new employee stock purchase plan so that we can ensure each of our employees is transitioned to owner status soon within the company, regardless of brand affiliation or geography. Thanks very much for your time today. I wish all of you and all of our Winnebago teammates a very happy holiday season and a wonderful new year. We are very excited about 2018 and hope all of you are as well. I will now turn the call back over to the operator to begin the Q&A portion of this morning's event.