Power Tool Industry January 2022

Robert Bosch Tool Corporation
Bosch financials are expected to be better than first predicted for FY 2021, according to outgoing CEO Volkmar Denner. Revenue is expected to reach USD $89.1 billion after dropping by 6.4% in 2020. Revenue dropped 6.4% in 2020. Bosch had earlier predicted a revenue increase of 6% with 3% operating margins.
 
Stefan Hartung, the new chief executive of Bosch, says the industry's shortage in semiconductor chips is not going away any time soon, and supply chain bottlenecks need to be solved. Hartung took over from Volkmar Denner, the outgoing chief executive, at the beginning of the year.
 
Stanley Black & Decker
Deutsche Bank Industrials Conference & Robert Baird Global Industrials Conference. SB&D was represented at both virtual conferences by CFO Don Allan:
 
They anticipate 16% to 17% organic growth in 2021, which would put them at about $14.5 billion in sales.
 
The MTD and Excel acquisitions will help them create a $4 billion outdoor platform when you add in their $1 billion in handheld outdoor products. They expect that platform to grow significantly over the next five years.
 
They believe the hybrid work environment will be with us for quite some time, which means more people will be spending more time at home than they did pre-pandemic.
 
Ecommerce accounts for about 20% of their Tools business revenue now, about $2.5 billion. They see more growth ahead and believe over the next two or three years that percentage could be in the mid-twenties.
 
At this time, they need to be aggressive in order to recover margins. They had significant inflationary headwinds in Q3 and Q4. Offsets from price started to have an impact in Q4 and will have a larger impact in the first two quarters of 2022. They did another round of price increases in November. They expect this state to be transitory.
 
The supply chain is starting to show some stability and commodity prices have also stabilized. The Tools & Storage business used to take 30 to 40 days to get products from Asia into the US or Europe. It now takes about 90 days due to the logistical challenges of getting things in and out of ports, getting them on to trucks and eventually where they need to go. That has added both time and significant costs.
 
The holiday surge actually started in July because they wanted to get holiday product in as soon as possible and by
mid-November they had most of that product to stores or where it needed to go.
 
Now that they have worked through the worst bottlenecks they need to deal with ongoing challenges such as containers, trucks and drivers and other chronic shortages.
 
They saw more than 10% POS between mid-October and mid-November, an indication that demand is there, although some of it was probably early holiday shopping. Whatever is driving it, they continue to see strong demand.
 
Even though comps will be tough they believe they can produce organic growth for Tools & Storage in the first half of 2022. Comps will be harder in the back half. They also think they will get back to sustainable 18% to 20% margins.
 
The biggest challenge they are working through is making sure they have enough supply. They are building more capacity in their supply chain so if the market demand is there, they could have significant growth of 10% or 15% in the first two quarters. In 2021 Tools & Storage produced somewhere between $3 billion and $3.3 billion in quarterly revenue.
 
There is DIY strength but there is also strong demand from Pros around the globe.
 
The Craftsman Brand rolled out about 80 products so far; they are now going to phase two, which will add about 20 more products and in 2023 they will roll out the remainder of the line and reach their goal of 300 products.
 
Black & Decker is working on a total line refresh and they will be rolling that out between 2022 and 2024. They will be focused on ecommerce and believe there is tremendous opportunity for global growth.
 
There is some optimism there may be some rollback in tariffs, which could mean as much as $75 to $100 million of positive impact for them.
 
They supported the infrastructure bill for the good of the country, but it will also be good for their Tools & Storage business. But it’s not possible to put a number on the impact right now.
 
They’ve gained a lot of impressive resources in battery cell technology and formed two strategic partnerships, both very large Asian companies. They believe this will help them continue to improve the technology, co-innovate, produce better price points and improve functionality.
 
The Excel acquisition gives them access to an independent dealer network where Pro landscapers go for products. Their brand Hustler Is a mid-price point brand and DeWalt will be a premium brand. Excel is heavily weighted to the Western US and MTD is more weighted to the Eastern US, so they fit well together.
 
Other News:
SB&D plans to sell most of their electronic security solutions business to Swedish rival Securitas in a $3.2 billion cash deal. SB&D said the sale is in line with their commitment to generate shareholder value and will allow them to sharpen their strategic focus on their core businesses. They hope the deal will close in the first half of 2022.
 
DeWalt recalled their Jobsite Pro Wireless Earphones after the Consumer Product Safety Commission received 61 reports of the earphones overheating during charging or use, including five reports of fire and four reports of minor burn injuries. They were sold at Home Depot, Lowe’s and other electronics and hardware stores nationwide and online at cyberguys.com from December 2019 through July 2021 for about $60. Consumers were advised to stop using them immediately and return with a pre-paid shipment label.
 
Mac Tools will establish a North American training center in Columbus, Ohio. Mac Tools will fly trainees in from across the country to receive instruction on hand tools and specialty items such as power tools, electronics and shop equipment.
 
SB&D won four Comparably Best Places to Work Awards for 2021, including: Best Companies for Diversity, Best Companies for Women, Best CEOS and Best Company Culture.
 
SB&D’s Powerstack 20V Max Compact Battery was awarded a Popular Science 2021 Best of What’s New Award. The award recognizes the year’s top 100 breakthroughs that are paving the way for a better future. SB&D said they are the first major power tool brand to use pouch cell batteries designed for the construction industry.

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