RVs are back: Thor Industries soars on mobile vacations (and WFmobileH)
Throw on the "Cross-Country" playlist... Thor Industries is the impressively named owner of big RV manufacturers like Airstream and Heartland. Thor's slogan: "Go Anywhere. Stay Anywhere." — doesn't seem very feasible in the corona-conomy. But Thor stock is up 43% over the month because investors think RVs can make it possible:
- Thor's sales fell 33% for the quarter ending in April — but, many RV dealers have reopened since then, and Thor restarted production at its North American plants.
- Thor's CEO says sales picked up significantly in May after he took the time to actually call a bunch of dealerships.
An aluminum box on wheels sounds appealing... when your Caribbean cruise was cancelled and you're terrified to get on a plane. Thor is seeing a growing number of first-time buyers and renters in 3 categories:
- Vacationers: Rampant unemployment and virus fears have boosted RVs' appeal as cheap, sanitary travel options — pile the whole family in for a trip to Tahoe (mask optional).
- Mobile workers: A step up from the "work-from-car" trend — people are using RVs as mobile offices while they work remote 9-to-5.
- 1st time “home” buyers: Some are ending their leases and financing RVs instead (RV with ocean view is cheaper than house with ocean view).
Vacation demand is actually increasing... All the stay-at-home-ing has recently been unleashed in a pent up demand for travel. People aren’t waiting for a COVID-19 vaccine to go on vacation — we're seeing more road trips, and also more staycations at rentals: Airbnb had more US bookings from May 17 to June 3rd than it did for the same period last year. More than the same period last year.