Shares of MarineMax Inc. (NYSE: HZO), the world's largest recreational boat and yacht retailer, surged 12.74% in premarket trading on Thursday, January 23, 2025. This rally was driven by the company's better-than-expected financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2025, despite facing challenges from a sluggish retail environment and hurricane disruptions.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2024, MarineMax reported an adjusted profit of $0.17 per share, defying analysts' expectations of a $0.19 per share loss. However, revenue declined 11.2% year-over-year to $468.5 million, missing estimates of $485.1 million. The company attributed this revenue drop to the soft retail market for recreational boating throughout 2024 and the significant impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Despite the lower top-line performance, MarineMax's gross profit margin improved by 290 basis points to 36.2%, compared to 33.3% in the prior-year period. This improvement was driven by the promotional environment, favorable product mix, and higher contributions from the company's higher-margin businesses, such as marinas, superyacht services, and finance and insurance operations.

Encouraged by the results, MarineMax reaffirmed its full-year guidance for fiscal 2025. The company continues to expect adjusted net income in the range of $1.80 to $2.80 per diluted share and adjusted EBITDA between $150 million and $180 million.

"While economic conditions in the recreational marine industry remain challenging, we anticipate that the pace of activity improves as we move into the spring selling season," said Brett McGill, Chief Executive Officer and President of MarineMax. "Early activity at this year's retail boat shows has been encouraging, and we believe that our position within the premium category of the segment will enable us to outperform the industry and more meaningfully grow as conditions improve."