Acushnet Holdings Stock

Acushnet Holdings Corp. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and distribution of golf products worldwide.

Products

The company designs, manufactures, and markets a broad range of products under the Titleist, FootJoy and KJUS brands. The company’s products include golf balls, golf clubs, wedges and putters, golf shoes, golf gloves, golf gear and golf and ski outerwear and apparel.

Titleist

The company designs, manufactures, and sells golf balls, golf clubs, wedges and putters and golf gear under the Titleist brand.

Titleist Golf Balls

The Titleist golf ball was founded with the purpose of designing and manufacturing a golf ball. The golf ball category also generates the largest portion of its sales and profits.

The Titleist Pro V1 is the best-selling golf ball globally. Launched on the PGA Tour in October 2000 and introduced to the consumer market in December 2000, the first Pro V1 golf ball represented the coalescence of three of Titleist's industry leading technologies: large solid core; multi-component construction; and high performance, thermoset cast urethane elastomer covers. In its first four months, the Pro V1 golf ball became the best-selling golf ball and holds that position to this day. Both Pro V1 and Pro V1x are designed to provide total performance for golfers at every level of the game and best demonstrate Titleist's design, innovation and technology leadership.

In 2021, the company introduced Pro V1 and Pro V1x RCT golf balls. RCT stands for ‘Radar Capture Technology’, a proprietary, patent-pending technology. Pro V1 RCT is engineered to deliver the most accurate golf ball data on indoor radar-based launched monitors and was validated in collaboration with a team of fitting experts. Pro V1 and Pro V1x RCT golf balls offer the exact same design, quality and performance as any Pro V1 or Pro V1x with the enhanced benefit of an indoor radar signal that captures actual spin data to deliver a true indoor precision fitting. In September 2022, Pro V1x Left Dash and AVX were also introduced with RCT, enhancing the opportunity for a precise, premium performance golf ball fitting indoors.

An advanced version of the Titleist AVX golf ball launched in early 2022. AVX complements the company’s Pro V1 premium performance, thermoset cast urethane models and also has a loyal golfer following. AVX flies lower, spins less and has an even softer feel than Pro V1 or Pro V1x. Tour Speed, rolled out globally as Titleist’s first multi-component thermoplastic urethane golf ball in mid-2020, delivers best-in-class performance when compared with similarly priced competitive offerings. The company’s Tour Soft golf ball features the largest core Titleist has ever produced and a very thin soft cover for commanding distance and soft, responsive feel. The company’s Velocity and TruFeel models, which provide golfers with a range of performance, color and price preferences, were also introduced in 2022.

The Pinnacle brand completes the Acushnet golf ball portfolio with its two major models, Rush and Soft. Competing in the price segment, the Pinnacle brand allows the Titleist brand to focus on the premium performance and performance segments of the market. It also helps to support the thousands of golf shops that choose to exclusively stock Titleist and Pinnacle golf balls and offer golf balls in each market segment to their golfers.

The company is also a leader in custom imprinted golf balls. This includes printing high quality reproductions of country club or resort logos, tournament logos, corporate logos and personalization on Titleist and Pinnacle golf balls. The company’s service includes design capabilities, special packaging options and fast turnaround times. The majority of custom imprinting is done for corporate logos, as there has long been a strong connection between the business community and golf.

Titleist Golf Clubs, Wedges and Putters

The company designs, assembles, and sells golf clubs (drivers, fairways, hybrids and irons) under the Titleist brand, wedges under the Vokey Design brand and putters under the Scotty Cameron brand. Titleist golf clubs, Vokey Design wedges and Scotty Cameron putters are widely used by professional and competitive amateur players. The company is also committed to a leading club fitting and trial platform to maximize dedicated golfers’ performance experience.

The company views and operates the Titleist golf club business in three distinct categories: clubs (which includes drivers, fairways, hybrids and irons), wedges and putters.

Titleist Clubs

The company’s global club line consists of the TSR product line of drivers, fairways and hybrids, and the T Series and 620 product lines of irons. Every product in its club line features premium, tour-proven stock shafts and grips, complemented by a broad range of custom options.

Titleist TSR drivers, fairways and hybrids are designed to deliver superior performance through tour-proven technologies that increase ball speed, decrease spin, and optimize flight without sacrificing forgiveness. The company designs its drivers and fairways to deliver complete performance with tour-preferred looks, sound and feel, and it offers the ability to precisely fit individual golfers’ needs.

Titleist T Series irons are innovative, technologically advanced products designed to deliver distance, forgiveness, proper shot control and feel. While the company offers stock set configurations for its iron sets, a significant portion of its worldwide iron sales are custom fit to help deliver a better fit and performance. The company’s 620 MB and CB irons are classic, fully forged blade type irons largely preferred by highly skilled golfers.

Vokey Design Wedges

Bob Vokey champions the Titleist wedge effort by creating high performance wedges to meet the demands of dedicated golfers and the best players in the world. The Vokey Design wedge product offering is a compilation of the most popular wedges resulting from the Vokey Team’s hands-on work with golf’s best players to develop shapes and soles that address varying techniques and course conditions. In total, the company offers 25 unique loft, sole grind and bounce combinations and four unique finishes to create golf’s most complete wedge product performance range. In addition, Vokey’s online Wedgeworks program promotes limited edition models and allows golfers to customize and personalize their wedges. Vokey Design wedges are the most played wedges by tour professionals.

Scotty Cameron Putters

Scotty Cameron Fine Milled Putters are developed through a specialized and iterative process that blends art and science to create high performance putters. The design inspiration for the Scotty Cameron brand begins with studying the best players in the world and working with them to identify the consistent strengths and attributes of their putting. Scotty Cameron encourages a selection process that identifies the putter length, toe flow and appearance to deliver proper balance, shaft flex and feel to golfers and to encourage proper technique. Scotty Cameron putters consist of a range of products for each of these key selection criteria.

Using the scottycameron.com website as an information and services hub, the company offers the opportunity to connect more closely with the Scotty Cameron brand. Golfers can customize and personalize their putter(s) in the online Scotty Cameron Custom Shop. Through the popular ‘Club Cameron’ loyalty program and the Scotty Cameron online ‘Studio Store’, brand fans can purchase unique Scotty Cameron accessories. In 2014, the company also opened the Scotty Cameron Gallery in Encinitas, California, a premium retail boutique, which offers consumers the ability to experience the tour fitting process, as well as purchase unique accessory items.

Titleist Golf Gear

Titleist Golf Gear is a matrix of distinct categories across golf bags, headwear, golf gloves, travel products, headcovers and other golf accessories. The company started building its golf gear infrastructure in 2015, transitioning away from third-party product creation and supply chain dependency to enable it to exercise more control over the design, engineering, product specifications, and quality assurance of its finished Titleist golf gear products.

Titleist Golf Bags

Titleist Golf Bags have an array of models across price points with designs ranging from those to be carried to those designed for golf carts, each with an array of functional differences and a variety of materials and colors. Titleist golf bags are used on professional tours throughout the world and are relied upon by players globally to support their game. In 2023, the company plans to introduce its all-new Titleist Players Stand Bag collection, continuing the momentum of this leading bag franchise sold by leading golf courses across the globe. The company also has enjoyed success with its LINKSLEGEND Series of premium golf bags that launched in the Fall of 2022 at leading clubs around the world.

Titleist Golf Headwear

Titleist Golf Headwear is recognized on the professional golf tours globally. Titleist golf headwear provides both function and fashion appeal across a multitude of models providing rain and sun protection, as well as trend designs for the dedicated player. The company has established key product franchises in its headwear assortment with a variety of functions for both men and women, including the Tour Performance, the Montauk and the Tour Aussie.

FootJoy

FootJoy is one of golf’s leading performance wearable brands, which consists collectively of golf shoes, gloves and apparel.

FootJoy Golf Shoes

With an exclusive focus on golf, FootJoy shoes are designed, developed and manufactured for all golfers across multiple golf shoe categories, including modern classics, technical performance, casual and athletic.

FootJoy offers a large assortment of styles to suit the needs and tastes of all golfers. The breadth and scope of the FootJoy product line is commensurate with its leading sales position. To maintain and grow this leadership position in the category, new product launches and new styles comprise approximately 50% of its offerings each year in all significant markets around the world.

In addition to its stock offerings, FootJoy is a leader in the customization of golf shoe styles and designs. FootJoy’s MyJoys custom golf shoe microsite provides individual choices for style, color, personal IDs and team logos that are produced to order for golfers around the world.

FootJoy Gloves

FootJoy is the leader in sales for all sub-categories of the glove business, including leather construction, synthetic, leather/synthetic combinations and all specialty gloves, including rain and winter specific offerings.

FootJoy Outerwear and Apparel

FootJoy is also a leader in the golf outerwear and men's and women's golf apparel markets. FootJoy’s goal for outerwear is to ‘make every day playable’ and extend the golf season by providing products for rain, wind and cold conditions. In 2011, FootJoy entered the apparel market with a full line of performance golf apparel and has become one of the leading brands in the U.S., Europe, Korea and other major markets globally.

KJUS

In 2019, the company acquired KJUS, a Swiss-based manufacturer of premium performance ski, golf and lifestyle apparel. KJUS entered the golf outerwear and lifestyle apparel markets with a focus on freedom of movement, temperature regulation and all-weather protection to enhance performance. As a result, KJUS has achieved an enthusiastic following with performance-minded golfers and a premium positioning at leading golf shops worldwide.

Strategy

The key elements of the company's strategy are to introduce new products and extend market share leadership in equipment categories; increase penetration in golf gear and wear categories; and strategically pursue global growth.

Sales and Distribution

The company’s accounts consist of premium golf shops, which include on-course golf shops and golf specialty retailers, as well as other qualified retailers that sell golf products to consumers worldwide.

The company operates, and has its own field sales representation, in those countries that represent the substantial majority of golf equipment and wearable sales, including the United States, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Sweden, France, Greater China, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Switzerland. The company services over 28,000 direct accounts worldwide.

Titleist, FootJoy, KJUS, Links & Kings and PG Golf have established eCommerce websites accessible around the globe and the company plans to further expand eCommerce initiatives in the coming years.

The company uses United Parcel Service and FedEx Corporation for substantially all ground shipments of products to its U.S. customers.

Seasonality

Weather conditions in most parts of the world, including the company’s primary geographic markets, generally restrict golf from being played year-round, with many of its on-course customers closed during the cold weather months. In general, during the first quarter (year ended December 2022), the company begin selling its products into the golf retail channel for the new golf season. This initial sell-in generally continues into the second quarter. The company’s second-quarter sales are significantly affected by the amount of sell-through, in particular the amount of higher value discretionary purchases made by customers, which drives the level of reorders of the products sold during the first quarter. The company’s third-quarter sales are generally dependent on reorder business, and are generally lower than the second quarter, as many retailers begin decreasing their inventory levels in anticipation of the end of the golf season. The company’s fourth-quarter sales are generally less than the other quarters due to the end of the golf season in many of its key markets, but can also be affected by key product launches, particularly golf clubs.

Research and Development (R&D)

For the year ended December 31, 2022, the company invested $56.4 million in R&D.

Patents, Trademarks and Licenses

The company has nearly 900 active U.S. utility patents in golf balls, nearly 500 active U.S. utility patents in golf clubs, wedges and putters and nearly 350 active patents in golf shoes and gloves worldwide. In 2022, the company filed over 200 U.S. patent applications and over 400 worldwide.

The company owns or licenses a large portfolio of trademarks, including for Titleist, Pro V1, Pro V1x, AVX, Union Green, Pinnacle, AP1, AP2, TSR, T Series, CNCPT, Vokey Design, Scotty Cameron, the Circle T Design, FootJoy, FJ, DryJoys, HyperFlex, StaSof, ProDry, MyJoys, Club Glove and KJUS.

Competition

FootJoy’s significant worldwide competitors in golf shoes include Nike, Adidas and Ecco. FootJoy’s and Titleist's primary worldwide competitors in golf gloves include Callaway, Nike, TaylorMade and Adidas. In the golf apparel category, FootJoy has numerous competitors in each geographical market, including Nike, Adidas, Peter Millar, GFore and Under Armour.

History

Acushnet Holdings Corp. was founded in 1910. The company was incorporated in Delaware in 2011.