Harley-Davidson earnings drop 24% as sales dip, but stock rises as company beats forecast

Harley-Davidson Inc.’s stock
HOG,
-6.45%
rose 0.8% in premarket trading Thursday after the company beat analyst forecasts for profit and revenue. Harley-Davidson’s third-quarter net income fell 24% to $199 million, or $1.38 a share, from $261 million, or $1.78 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Analysts expected the motorcycle maker to earn $1.36 a share, according to FactSet consensus estimates. Revenue fell to $1.549 billion from $1.649 billion, but beat the analyst estimate of $1.356 billion. The company said its custom motorcycle business booked a 25% sales increase.