Malibu Boats’ dealer finance program is gaining traction as the manufacturer leans on financing and extended-service products to reach payment-sensitive buyers who remain sidelined by worsening affordability issues.
MBI Acceptance has signed up about 33% to 40% of Malibu’s dealer network and applications have increased steadily since the program launched about nine months ago, President and Chief Executive Steve Menneto said during the company’s Aug. 27 fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call.
Malibu designs and manufactures recreational powerboats. Its Malibu and Axis brands sell performance sport boats used for watersports; Cobalt sells 20- to 40-foot sterndrive boats; Pursuit and Maverick Boat Group sell saltwater fishing boats; and Saxdor sells premium adventure dayboats, according to the company.
“The dealers are accepting [MBI Acceptance] and using it to retail boats,” Menneto said. “Even when it’s non-promotional, it’s still a tool that’s being used [and] helps the payment buyer be able to enter the market with one of our boats.”
Applications continued to increase during periods when Malibu was not offering promotional rates, Menneto said. Chief Financial Officer David Black said the finance program is primarily reaching dealers that carry Malibu’s lower-priced products.
Malibu did not disclose application, approval or origination volume.
By the numbers
Loudon, Tenn.-based Malibu reported the following fiscal fourth-quarter results:
- Net sales increased 42.7% year over year to $295.5 million, including $61.2 million from recently acquired Saxdor Yachts;
- Legacy net sales, which exclude Saxdor, increased approximately 13.2% YoY to $234.3 million, while legacy unit volume rose 4.5% YoY to 1,276 boats;
- Malibu-brand unit volume declined 2.5% YoY, but segment sales increased 3.2% YoY to $82.9 million on higher prices and a shift toward more expensive models;
- Q4 net income increased 53.7% YoY to $7.4 million; and
- Fiscal 2027 net sales are expected to total $1.08 billion to $1.12 billion, despite tariff concerns.
Value buyers remain pressured
Preliminary Statistical Surveys Inc. data showed U.S. boat retail registrations declined 10% YoY in July, compared with a 3% decline a year earlier, BMO Capital Markets analyst Tristan Thomas-Martin wrote in an Aug. 26 research note.
Registrations in the main powerboat segment also fell 10% YoY, according to BMO, with the preliminary data covering 37 states representing approximately 74% of the market. June registrations were revised to flat YoY from an initially reported 2% decline.
Marine retailers MarineMax and OneWater Marine have also reported continued macroeconomic pressure on retail demand, while premium boat sales have remained more resilient, according to BMO.
Shares of Malibu Boats Inc. [NASDAQ: MBUU] are trading down 7.57% or $2.24 over the past five trading days to $27.36 at market close today. Malibu has a market capitalization of $537.27 million.
Powersports Finance Summit, a premier event for companies involved in recreational vehicle financing, returns Sept. 16-17 at the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown. To learn more about the 2026 event and register, visit www.PowersportsFinance.com.
