Five Takeaways from Harley-Davidson’s Q4 2025 Financial Results

Harley-Davidson reported its fourth quarter and 2025 year-end financial figures, and the results, as expected, were not great. Harley-Davidson has been on a downward trend for a long while now, and the October through December fiscal period is traditionally poor, from a combination of the closing riding season and the switchover to a new model year.

Overall revenue totaled $496 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, down 28% from $688 million in the same period in 2024. Harley-Davidson reported an operating loss of $361 million in Q4, compared to a loss of $193 million the year prior. While the quarterly numbers are red, the year end results are still in the black, though still down from 2024. Harley-Davidson’s year-end operating income was $387 million, a 7% decrease year-over-year from $417 million.

There were some positive numbers, however. North American motorcycle sales increased 5% in the fourth quarter to about 15,900 from 15,100 units, while global sales totaled 25,300 motorcycles (down from 25,700). Year-end totals remained down 12%, with Harley-Davidson selling 132,500 motorcycles in 2025 compared to 151,200 in 2024.

“As we close out a challenging year for the Company, we are taking deliberate actions to stabilize the business, restore dealer confidence, and align wholesale activity with retail demand,” says Artie Starrs, President and Chief Executive Officer of Harley-Davidson. “While near-term results reflect these actions, the progress we are seeing reinforces our confidence in the reset underway and our ability to rebuild Harley-Davidson’s long-term earnings and cash-flow power. With an iconic brand, a deeply loyal rider community, and a dealer network unlike any other, we believe Harley-Davidson is well positioned as we chart a clear path forward.”

Looking beyond the numbers, here are five interesting details that came out of Harley-Davidson’s 2025 fiscal year presentation.

Starrs officially became the CEO on October 1, but a lot of what Harley-Davidson has done since then, including its 2026 model lineup, was the result of his predecessor, Jochen Zeitz. Starrs has made a lot of changes, such as a reversal of the company’s work from home plans and more affordable pricing strategies, but he hasn’t yet laid out a full business plan.

Zeitz famously outlined his Rewire plan in 2020 to reset the company during the pandemic, and the Hardwire plan in 2021 to map out the previous five years. Starrs will get his chance to make significant changes with his own strategic plan, which he says he will reveal in May, alongside Harley-Davidson’s Q1 2026 report.

For now, Starrs offered a few clues on what to expect. Starrs discussed meeting with a Harley Owners Group gathering in Milan, Italy, and took note about members’ pride in customizing their bikes.

“It’s clear our riders view their Harley as their individual motorcycle. Individual expression matters, and customization is central to that experience,” says Starrs. “We have been too lax on our parts and accessories business in recent years, and that will change. This is what our riders want. It’s a critical business for our dealers. It creates more opportunities for our world-class service technicians.”

So, we can expect a stronger focus on parts and accessories, and giving customers more choices to customize their motorcycles. We can also expect a focus on producing more affordable motorcycles.

While much has been said about Harley-Davidson’s shrinking market share, the plain truth of the matter is the company’s biggest competition isn’t another OEM, but rather the used bike market. Why would buyers pay full freight for a brand new 2026 Harley, when they can pay a more affordable price for a bike that’s a few years old, but not significantly different from a new one?

“The used market continues to reinforce the power of the brand and a strong desire for customers to purchase our products, but at a price that is more aligned with today’s economic realities,” says Starrs. “What’s clear is that the portfolio actions taken over recent years have put the brand out of reach for some existing and potential riders. To win, it’s clear we need to sharpen our product focus, not only creating the highest quality motorcycles that our riders want to ride, but doing so with a price in mind. We need to ensure that these are products that our dealers are excited about and able to sell at a profit level that works for them and for us.”

Producing more affordable motorcycles will be a significant part of Starrs’ plan, but it also goes hand-in-hand with the focus on customizing. We can probably expect Harley-Davidson to introduce more stripped down products, with fewer bells and whistles to reach an accessible price point. Harley-Davidson can then recoup some of that reduced pricing with parts and accessories.

We’ll find out more about Starrs’ plan in May.

In Harley-Davidson’s third quarter presentation, Starrs spoke about the importance of a healthy dealer network. For the fourth quarter, Starrs restated that importance, calling healthy inventory levels and a healthy dealer network “non-negotiables.”

Starrs recently visited Italy and spoke with European dealers, and found similar feedback to what he gleaned from their American counterparts. Their two main concerns were motorcycle inventory, and e-commerce.

Regarding that first issue, Harley-Davidson says it has reduced global dealer inventory by 17% over the fourth quarter (and by 16% for U.S. dealerships specifically), exceeding the goal of a 10% reduction. A lot of this was achieved by offering financing incentives and cash credits.

And while Harley-Davidson says it exceeded its overall target, there are still a lot of 2025 touring models occupying dealer inventories. Harley-Davidson’s 2026 model lineup included a range of new Limited long-haul touring models, and while it says customer feedback has been positive, dealers still need to clear a backlog on Street Glide and Road Glide baggers.

The second part of Starrs’ plan to support dealerships is to re-evaluate Harley-Davidson’s e-commerce strategy. According to Starrs, the previous strategy was negatively affecting dealer foot traffic.

“The company’s e-commerce strategy has not historically delivered the intended results. It has created customer confusion and driven excessive discounting, placing unnecessary pressure on dealer economics,” says Starrs. “We’ve taken corrective action in North America by shifting to a model that is intended to drive incremental dealership traffic to support motorcycle sales.”

The new strategy is already apparent, if you visit the parts and accessories sections on Harley-Davidson’s website. While many products were only available at dealerships, a lot of parts and accessories were previously available to order online. Today, almost everything is listed as an “In Dealer Exclusive.”

Take this listing for a #1 logo baseball cap, for instance. According to the Internet Archive, the baseball cap was not listed as a dealer exclusive as recently as December 15, and specifically mentioned free three-day shipping for members spending more than $50. Today, there is no language regarding free shipping, and the “Add to Cart” button disappears when you pick a size, replaced by an option to check your local retailer for inventory.

This wasn’t mentioned specifically in the fourth quarter presentation, but according to SEC filings, Ford CEO Jim Farley has decided not to seek re-election as a member of Harley-Davidson’s board of directors, after his current term expires at the annual shareholder meeting in May. Farley has been a member of the board since 2021, and sits on the Audit and Finance, and Nominating and Corporate Governance committees.

Known for his frankness, Farley spoke last November with Argentina’s La Nación (Farley was born in Buenos Aires, where his father worked as a banker) about a wide range of topics, including Harley-Davidson, comparing it to Ford.

“I think Harley is similar to Ford, going through a huge transformation. It’s also a Midwestern company, in the middle of the U.S., and I feel it has the same ethos,” said Farley. “(People in) Milwaukee and Detroit are tough, hardworking people. Harley-Davidson, like Ford, is a global icon, but they also have to change. They can’t stay the same. They can’t live in the past; they have to live in the future.”

According to the SEC filing, Farley’s decision to leave was not due to any disagreement with Harley-Davidson, or its operations. That’s usually boiler-plate language for whenever any board member decides to step down, but to cut off any rumors or conspiracies, the decision is more likely a result of him joining the board of directors of McDonald’s, effective immediately.

The Harley-Davidson board of directors has decided that it will not be replacing Farley’s spot, instead opting to reduce the size of the board from nine members to eight, effective at the end of the upcoming shareholders meeting.

LiveWire showed some encouraging signs of life in the fourth quarter, reporting a 61% increase in electric motorcycle sales during the fourth quarter. That said, big percentages are easy to achieve when you’re working with a small sample size. In LiveWire’s case, we’re looking at about 380 motorcycles sold in the quarter compared to 236 reported in the same quarter of 2024. That’s enough for LiveWire to claim a 70% market share of the U.S. electric market for electric bikes producing 50+ horsepower.

Still, the numbers are moving in the right direction, with electric motorcycles (mostly LiveWire’s S2 models) generating a 10% increase in revenue during the quarter. Meanwhile, Stacyc balance bike sales also saw a good final quarter, with an 8% increase in sales volume and a 4% increase in revenue.

Altogether, LiveWire reported $11.4 million in fourth quarter revenue, compared to $10.8 million in the same period the previous year. LiveWire still reported a net loss of $17.6 million, but that’s an improvement of the $22.8 million loss in 2024. For the full fiscal year, LiveWire reported a net loss of $75.1 million in 2025, compared to a net loss of $93.9 million in 2024.

Whether LiveWire will continue to see an improvement will hinge on the upcoming launch of the S4 Honcho models, a range of smaller motorcycles with performance on par with 125cc ICE models.

LiveWire is also seeking to raise up to $50 million in capital through issuing new shares, to build capital on top of its existing $75 million loan from Harley-Davidson.

With the 2025 fiscal year in the books, the focus shifts towards 2026, which will be a bit of a transition year for Harley-Davidson. From what we’ve seen so far, Starrs’ approach has differed from his predecessor in several ways, and while we have seen a few of his initiatives take effect, we’ll have to see what direction his new business plan will take in three months time.

---

Become a Motorcycle.com insider. Get the latest motorcycle news first by subscribing to our newsletter here.