Acushnet opened 2026 with worldwide net sales of $753 million, up 5% in constant currency, and adjusted EBITDA of $144.6 million, up about 4% (+$6M), in what CEO David Maher called a strong 'product selling quarter.' Titleist golf equipment rose 7%, with golf ball volumes up in every region despite an even-year, non-Pro V1 calendar (Pro V1x Left Dash, AVX, Tour Soft, Velocity, Vokey SM11), and golf gear rose 8% on bags, while FootJoy dipped 1% on a premium-mix shift. Regionally the U.S. was +5% (rounds +5%), EMEA +8%, Japan +6%, rest of world +9%, and Korea -7% on club-launch timing. Gross margin fell 70 bps to 47.2% on a 220 bps, $17M tariff headwind. Management maintained FY2026 guidance of $2,625-$2,675M net sales and $415-$435M adjusted EBITDA (excluding tariff refunds), now expecting first-half results near the high end, and reaffirmed the $70M / $40M incremental tariff hit. The signature theme was pulling the GTS driver launch forward from Q3 to Q2 (June 11) into the peak window, accretive to the year but driving a 7% inventory build, $31M lower Q1 free cash flow, and 2.3x net leverage. Acushnet returned $26M to shareholders and declared a $0.255 dividend.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for Acushnet Holdings Corp.'s 1st quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Joining me this morning are David Maher, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Sean Sullivan, our Chief Financial Officer. Before turning the call over to David, I would like to remind everyone that we will make forward-looking statements on the call today. These forward-looking statements are based on Acushnet's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations. For a list of factors that
could cause actual results to differ, please see today's press release, the slides that accompany our presentation, and our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Throughout this discussion, we will make reference to non-GAAP financial measures, including items such as net sales on a constant currency basis and adjusted EBITDA.
Explanations of how and why we use these measures and reconciliations of these items to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in the schedules in today's press release, the slides that accompany this presentation, and in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Please also note that references throughout this presentation to year-over-year net sales increases and decreases are on a constant currency basis unless otherwise stated, as we feel this measurement best provides context as to the performance and trends of our business. When referring to year-to-date
results or comparisons, we are referring to the three month period ended March 31st, 2026, and the comparable three month period in 2025. With that, I'll turn the call over to David.
Thanks, Cameron. Good morning, everyone. As always, we appreciate your interest in Acushnet Holdings. I am pleased to report on a positive start to the year for Acushnet, highlighted by a wide range of new product launches and early season growth in our Titleist golf equipment and golf gear segments. Acushnet delivered worldwide net sales of $753 million, a 5% constant currency increase over last year. Adjusted EBITDA was $145 million in the first quarter, an increase of $6 million year-over-year. These results reflect solid execution and synergies across our product development and supply chain teams
and Acushnet's continued investment to drive future growth and operational excellence. Now getting to segment results.
You see Titleist golf equipment sales increased 7% in the quarter as our Titleist golf ball and golf club business continued to generate positive momentum. Titleist balls and clubs are helping players excel at the highest levels of the game, which affirms Titleist's 72% ball count across worldwide tours, more than seven times the nearest competitor, and number one driver positioning on the PGA and DP World Tours. In the quarter, golf ball volumes increased in all regions as our team successfully launched new Pro V1x Left Dash, AVX, Tour Soft, and Velocity models. We typically expect modest volume declines in the first
quarter of even years when comping against a prior year's Pro V1 launch, and this year's volume growth is commentary on our team's ability to innovate and the overall strength of the Titleist golf ball lineup heading into Q2.
Titleist golf clubs also delivered a strong first quarter, led by the successful launch of new Vokey SM11 wedges and healthy demand for GT drivers and fairway metals in their second year. The Titleist equipment segment continues to benefit from our ongoing work at the Titleist Performance Institute. TPI, led by Dr. Greg Rose and Dave Phillips, is a powerful force within Acushnet, which informs our understanding of golfer biomechanics, is at the center of our commitment to help golfers play their best, and shapes our R&D visions across golf balls, clubs, and footwear. As we have talked about on recent
calls, we continue to invest in and develop our capabilities across our TPI platform. Now to golf gear. Q1 sales were up 8%, driven by higher sales volumes in golf bags and double-digit gains in the U.S. and EMEA.
Our FootJoy segment is off to a good start as we operate an increasingly productive business with greater focus on premium franchises and fewer offerings at lower price points. FJ sales were down 1% in the quarter as our teams successfully launched new Pro/SL and Premiere golf shoes, and our spring apparel collections have been well received. FootJoy profitability, while still burdened with incremental tariffs, is on track with our internal plans. In the quarter, net sales of products not allocated to a reportable segment were up slightly, with continued momentum and growth from KJUS' U.S. golf
business and modest gains from Titleist apparel in Asia. Looking at the quarter by region, you see the U.S. market was up 5% on the strength of the Titleist golf equipment and golf gear segments.
Rounds of play in the U.S. were up 5% through March, with gains in key Sun Belt states Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas. EMEA was up 8%, reflecting gains from all reportable segments led by double-digit growth from Titleist equipment and gear as we continue to generate nice momentum across the region. Japan also delivered a solid start to the year, up 6%, led by gains in golf equipment. Korea was in line with our expectations, yet off 7% as the timing of their first quarter golf club launch
calendar differs from other regions, which we expect to normalize in the coming months. The rest of world region was up 9% with increased sales across all segments.
Now looking forward, and as we shared on the Q4 call, we will be launching new Titleist GTS drivers and fairway metals in the second quarter, which we see as a favorable transition from our customary Q3 launch window. New GTS metals debuted across professional tours in late March, and we are very pleased with the initial response and enthusiasm. Golfer fittings begin next week, and we are preparing for the global market launch on June eleventh. As you would expect, the shift from Q3 to Q2 will impact the cadence of our business in 2026, and Sean will share greater details during his remarks. In summary,
we are pleased with our start to the year in what is best characterized as a product selling quarter.
Thank you, David. Good morning, everyone. As highlighted, we started 2026 with an increase in net sales of 5% over last year's first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $144.6 million, an increase of 4% from the first quarter of 2025. Net sales growth in the quarter was driven by continued momentum of our Titleist brand, with golf equipment growing 7% and golf gear growing 8%, while FootJoy net sales declined 1% in the quarter. Gross profit in the first quarter of $355 million was up $18 million compared to the first quarter of 2025, mainly due to higher net sales, which were partially offset by higher tariff costs of $17
million year-over-year.
Gross margin was 47.2% in the quarter, down 70 basis points from last year, primarily due to the tariff cost headwind of 220 basis points just mentioned. SG&A expense of $214 million in the quarter increased $13 million from the first quarter of 2025. This increase was due to higher selling expenses incurred in connection with the higher sales volumes, costs related to the expansion of our product fitting networks, higher IT related expenses, and additional A&P expenses to support new product launches. Net interest expense of $13.1 million in the quarter was down modestly from last year. Our
effective tax rate in Q1 was 22.9%, up from 17.9% last year.
The increase in ETR was primarily driven by changes in our jurisdictional mix of earnings and a reduced income tax benefit related to the U.S. deduction of foreign derived intangible income. Moving to our balance sheet and cash flow highlights. Our balance sheet and cash flow positions continue to be strong, allowing us to execute our disciplined capital allocation strategy while also navigating the current macroeconomic uncertainty. Our net leverage ratio using average trailing net debt at the end of Q1 was 2.3 times. As discussed on our fourth quarter call, we remain focused on maintaining net leverage at or
below 2.25 times on average, while we maintain flexibility to account for seasonality and other business needs, as evidenced by our leverage position at the end of this quarter.
With respect to inventories in the first quarter, FootJoy and golf gear inventories were down year-over-year. However, total inventories were up 7% as we built golf equipment inventory to support our accelerated GTS metals launch in the second quarter. Overall, we remain comfortable with our inventory quality and position. Capital expenditures were $19 million in the first quarter of 2026, up $8 million from last year, and we continue to expect full year spend to be approximately $95 million. Free cash flow in the first quarter was down $31 million compared to last year, in part related to the increased inventories
levels associated with the upcoming GTS metals launch. We still expect free cash flow to meaningfully improve versus 2025, with the benefit mainly occurring in the second half of the year.
Through March, we returned roughly $26 million to shareholders, with $16 million in cash dividends and $10 million in share repurchases. Today, our board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.255 per share, payable on June 22nd to shareholders of record on June 5th. As of March 31st, we had $231 million remaining under the current share repurchase authorization. Now let's turn to slide 10 and review our financial outlook for 2026. We are pleased with our strong results in the first quarter, and we note that as the golf season is just about to begin in many markets around the world, there remains
uncertainty in the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment.
As is our practice at this time of year, we are maintaining our full year outlook and continue to expect full year 2026 net sales to be in the range of $2,625 million-$2,675 million and adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $415 million-$435 million. This outlook excludes any potential IEEPA tariff refunds. On calendarization, reflecting the first quarter results, we now expect reported first half net sales and adjusted EBITDA to be closer to the high end of our previous range of up mid to high single digits. As it relates to tariffs, we previously cited a $70 million full year impact or $40 million year-over-year
incremental headwind in 2026.
Thanks, Sean. Jen, could we now open up the lines for questions?