Titan International Inc. posted sales of $383.6 million during the fourth quarter of 2024 versus $390.2 million during the same period in 2023.
The company’s gross profit for the final quarter of 2024 totaled $41.2 million, down from $58.3 million year-over-year.
According to Titan officials, the “net sales reduction was driven by declines in the agricultural and earthmoving/construction segments, attributed to weakened global end customer demand, partially offset by the net sales from the Carlstar acquisition."
Titan acquired Carlstar Group LLC in early-2024 for $296 million in cash and stock.
At the time, Titan officials said Carlstar “brings significant new customer relationships in multiple channels, including leading wholesale distributors, national retailers, commercial servicing dealers and OEMs” and “adds further diversification to Titan's product portfolio, especially in outdoor power equipment, power sports and high-speed trailers, where Titan does not have a presence.”
“Our conversations with some OEM customers are taking a more positive tone of late, with several asking about our readiness to ramp up production in the second half of the year,” says Titan President and CEO Paul Reitz.
“As we have also noted, a key part of our strategy in recent years has been our aftermarket business in all three of our reporting segments and our strategic acquisition last year has enabled us to cement into place our one-stop shop strategy to serve the aftermarket."
Ag and OTR segments
Titan’s net sales in the agricultural segment during 4Q 2024 were $157.1 million, “as compared to $192.6 million for the comparable period in 2023,” according to company officials.
“The change in net sales was primarily driven by lower global demand for agricultural equipment, particularly in North America and Europe. Additionally, there was an adverse foreign currency translation effect of 6.2%, primarily due to the depreciation of the Brazilian real and Argentine peso."
Titan’s profit in the agricultural segment was $14.3 million versus $28 million in 4Q 2024.
The company’s sales in the earthmoving/construction tire segment were $116.3 million for the last quarter of 2024 versus $159.1 million during the same period in 2023.
“The change in net sales was primarily attributed to softer demand in North America and Europe. Additionally, there was a 1.8% unfavorable impact from foreign currency translation.
Titan’s profit in the earthmoving/construction segment was $6.9 million versus slightly more than $22 million in 4Q 2024.
Full-year outlook
"As we turn the page to 2025, we see a number of reasons to be optimistic that we will see a return to growth for Titan with an improving outlook supported by a combination of internal and external drivers,” says Reitz.
“Internally, we have continued to invest in product innovation while also bolstering our one-stop shop offerings, all of which are enabling us to offer customers the best selection of products. A key part of that is our expanded aftermarket business, which has been a notable positive as it has helped to reduce the level of cyclicality across our three reporting segments.
"There is growing support for an improvement in net farm income in 2025 driven by higher market prices for commodities, particularly corn, and an expectation of higher levels of government support to farmers. With more money in farmers' pockets there is a greater ability and willingness to reinvest those profits into capital equipment.
"Expectations for continued favorable conditions also drive capital investment and we have been pleased to see the positive impact the new administration has had on farmer sentiment,” he says.
Thoughts on tariffs
"Tariffs are on everyone's mind these days and at this point, we do not anticipate the currently planned tariffs to be an issue for us to navigate,” says Reitz. “However, I do think it is a mistake to place a tariff on raw steel without also implementing one on all steel-related products from the tariffed countries to close the loop for companies trying to avoid that tariff.
“We have seen tariffs come and go over the years and nobody can predict exactly where tariff policies will be in the future, but I believe in the long-run tariffs should be a net positive for Titan.”
