Prepared 2026-10-13 for the Business Model Canvas Gallery (display #105). Independent educational project; not affiliated with Garmin Ltd. Not investment advice.
Company: Garmin Ltd. (NYSE: GRMN), incorporated in Switzerland (Schaffhausen); principal U.S. operations in Olathe, Kansas; principal consumer-product manufacturing in Taiwan. Designs, makes and sells GPS-enabled and sensor-based devices plus related services across five reportable segments: Fitness, Outdoor, Aviation, Marine and Auto OEM. Fiscal year: 52/53 weeks ending on the last Saturday of the calendar year. FY2025 = 52 weeks ended December 27, 2025; FY2024 = 52 weeks ended December 28, 2024. FY2026 ends December 26, 2026, so FY2025 is the latest completed full year.
Labels: FACT = company filing / release · SECONDARY = press / third party · INFERENCE = our reading / arithmetic.
| Item ($M) | FY2025 | FY2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net sales | 7,245.5 | 6,296.9 | +15% |
| Cost of goods sold | 2,989.2 | 2,600.3 | |
| Gross profit | 4,256.3 (58.7%) | 3,696.6 (58.7%) | +15% |
| Research & development | 1,126.2 | 993.6 | +13% (INFERENCE) |
| SG&A (incl. advertising) | 1,254.0 | 1,109.0 | +13% (INFERENCE) |
| Operating income | 1,876.1 (25.9%) | 1,594.0 (25.3%) | +18% |
| Interest income | 128.9 | 113.5 | |
| Income tax provision | 350.6 | 284.0 | |
| Net income | 1,663.9 | 1,411.4 | +17.9% (INFERENCE: arithmetic) |
| GAAP diluted EPS | $8.59 | $7.30 | +18% |
| Pro forma diluted EPS (non-GAAP) | $8.56 | $7.39 | +16% |
| Operating cash flow | 1,633.4 | 1,432.5 | |
| Capital expenditures | 270.4 | 193.6 | |
| Free cash flow (non-GAAP) | 1,362.9 | 1,238.9 | |
| Dividends paid | 663.9 | 572.4 | |
| Share repurchases (plan) | 181.0 | 62.3 | |
| Acquisitions, net of cash | 175.7 | 16.4 |
Advertising expense FY2025: $228.5M (in SG&A) — FACT [1]. Cash + marketable securities ≈ $4.1B at Dec 27, 2025 (FACT [2]; $2,278.6M cash + $459.2M current + $1,396.9M noncurrent securities). Release highlights: record revenue in all five segments, over 20 million units shipped (record) — FACT [2].
2026 guidance (Feb 18, 2026): revenue ~$7.9B (+9%), pro forma EPS ~$9.35 — FACT [2], forward-looking; not used for rankings.
| Segment | Net sales | YoY | Gross profit | Op. income | Share of sales (INFERENCE) | Op. margin (INFERENCE) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fitness | $2,357.0M | +33% | $1,402.6M | $725.9M | 32.5% | 30.8% |
| Outdoor | $2,054.1M | +5% | $1,351.2M | $690.4M | 28.3% | 33.6% |
| Aviation | $987.2M | +13% | $741.5M | $257.2M | 13.6% | 26.1% |
| Marine | $1,182.6M | +10% | $649.9M | $251.3M | 16.3% | 21.2% |
| Auto OEM | $664.7M | +9% | $111.1M | ($48.6M) loss | 9.2% | −7.3% |
| Total | $7,245.5M | +15% | $4,256.3M | $1,876.1M | 100% | 25.9% |
Segment gross margins (INFERENCE): Aviation ~75%, Outdoor ~66%, Fitness ~60%, Marine ~55%, Auto OEM ~17%.
Americas $3,453.9M (+14%); EMEA $2,741.6M (+18%); APAC $1,050.0M (+12%). INFERENCE: ~48% / 38% / 14% of net sales.
Indirect channels: worldwide network of independent retailers, dealers, distributors, installation and repair shops, and OEMs. Direct: garmin.com webshop, subscriptions for connected services, Garmin retail stores — direct channels were greater than 10% of FY2025 net sales. Aviation sells to aircraft OEMs and through dealers for retrofit; Auto OEM is a tier-one supplier of domain controllers and infotainment (latest BMW domain-controller program cited in the release [2]).
Garmin is a hardware company first: about 95% of revenue is device sales recognized at shipment, priced at premium levels that sustain a ~59% gross margin. It spreads one engineering and manufacturing base across five niches where it can be a specialist (endurance athletes, hikers, pilots, boaters, automakers). Services (Connect+, inReach plans, aviation databases, map updates) add recurring revenue but were only ~$335M of FY2025 revenue recognized over time; their bigger role is to keep users inside the ecosystem and support the next device purchase. Auto OEM is the low-margin, loss-making segment; Aviation has the richest gross margin.
No disclosed subscriber counts for Connect+ or inReach; no disclosed revenue split for subscriptions vs devices beyond the over-time figure. Not invented here.
# Garmin — research brief *Prepared 2026-10-13 for the Business Model Canvas Gallery (display #105). Independent educational project; not affiliated with Garmin Ltd. Not investment advice.* **Company:** Garmin Ltd. (NYSE: GRMN), incorporated in Switzerland (Schaffhausen); principal U.S. operations in Olathe, Kansas; principal consumer-product manufacturing in Taiwan. Designs, makes and sells GPS-enabled and sensor-based devices plus related services across five reportable segments: Fitness, Outdoor, Aviation, Marine and Auto OEM. **Fiscal year:** 52/53 weeks ending on the last Saturday of the calendar year. **FY2025 = 52 weeks ended December 27, 2025**; FY2024 = 52 weeks ended December 28, 2024. FY2026 ends December 26, 2026, so FY2025 is the latest completed full year. Labels: **FACT** = company filing / release · **SECONDARY** = press / third party · **INFERENCE** = our reading / arithmetic. ## Sources 1. Garmin Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (52 weeks ended Dec 27, 2025), filed Feb 18, 2026 — https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1121788/000119312526056028/grmn-20251227.htm 2. Garmin Q4 and fiscal year 2025 results release (8-K Ex. 99.1), Feb 18, 2026 — https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1121788/000119312526056025/grmn-ex99_1.htm 3. Garmin newsroom, "Elevate your health and fitness goals with Garmin Connect+" (Mar 27, 2025) — https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/wearables-health/elevate-your-health-and-fitness-goals-with-garmin-connect/ 4. Garmin blog, "Overview: inReach subscription plans" — https://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/outdoor/overview-inreach-subscription-plans/ 5. Treeline Review, "Explaining the New Garmin inReach Subscription Plans" (plan price table) — https://www.treelinereview.com/news/explaining-new-garmin-inreach-subscription-plans ## Full-year financials (FY2025 vs FY2024) — FACT [2] | Item ($M) | FY2025 | FY2024 | Change | |---|---|---|---| | **Net sales** | **7,245.5** | 6,296.9 | **+15%** | | Cost of goods sold | 2,989.2 | 2,600.3 | | | Gross profit | 4,256.3 (58.7%) | 3,696.6 (58.7%) | +15% | | Research & development | 1,126.2 | 993.6 | +13% (INFERENCE) | | SG&A (incl. advertising) | 1,254.0 | 1,109.0 | +13% (INFERENCE) | | **Operating income** | **1,876.1 (25.9%)** | 1,594.0 (25.3%) | **+18%** | | Interest income | 128.9 | 113.5 | | | Income tax provision | 350.6 | 284.0 | | | **Net income** | **1,663.9** | 1,411.4 | **+17.9%** (INFERENCE: arithmetic) | | GAAP diluted EPS | $8.59 | $7.30 | +18% | | Pro forma diluted EPS (non-GAAP) | $8.56 | $7.39 | +16% | | Operating cash flow | 1,633.4 | 1,432.5 | | | Capital expenditures | 270.4 | 193.6 | | | Free cash flow (non-GAAP) | 1,362.9 | 1,238.9 | | | Dividends paid | 663.9 | 572.4 | | | Share repurchases (plan) | 181.0 | 62.3 | | | Acquisitions, net of cash | 175.7 | 16.4 | | Advertising expense FY2025: $228.5M (in SG&A) — FACT [1]. Cash + marketable securities ≈ $4.1B at Dec 27, 2025 (FACT [2]; $2,278.6M cash + $459.2M current + $1,396.9M noncurrent securities). Release highlights: record revenue in all five segments, over 20 million units shipped (record) — FACT [2]. 2026 guidance (Feb 18, 2026): revenue ~$7.9B (+9%), pro forma EPS ~$9.35 — FACT [2], forward-looking; not used for rankings. ## Segments (FY2025) — FACT [2] | Segment | Net sales | YoY | Gross profit | Op. income | Share of sales (INFERENCE) | Op. margin (INFERENCE) | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Fitness | $2,357.0M | +33% | $1,402.6M | $725.9M | 32.5% | 30.8% | | Outdoor | $2,054.1M | +5% | $1,351.2M | $690.4M | 28.3% | 33.6% | | Aviation | $987.2M | +13% | $741.5M | $257.2M | 13.6% | 26.1% | | Marine | $1,182.6M | +10% | $649.9M | $251.3M | 16.3% | 21.2% | | Auto OEM | $664.7M | +9% | $111.1M | ($48.6M) loss | 9.2% | −7.3% | | **Total** | **$7,245.5M** | **+15%** | **$4,256.3M** | **$1,876.1M** | 100% | 25.9% | Segment gross margins (INFERENCE): Aviation ~75%, Outdoor ~66%, Fitness ~60%, Marine ~55%, Auto OEM ~17%. ## Geography (FY2025) — FACT [2] Americas $3,453.9M (+14%); EMEA $2,741.6M (+18%); APAC $1,050.0M (+12%). INFERENCE: ~48% / 38% / 14% of net sales. ## How revenue is recognized — FACT [1] - "A large majority" of revenue is recognized at a point in time when products ship. FY2025 point-in-time revenue $6,910.9M; **over-time revenue $334.6M** (≈4.6% of net sales, INFERENCE). - Over-time revenue comes mainly from Outdoor, Aviation and Auto OEM: map-update services bundled with navigation products, aviation database and other service subscriptions, navigation/communication service subscriptions (e.g. inReach), premium content subscriptions delivered through mobile apps, and extended warranties; service periods typically 1 month to 3 years. - Deferred revenue $127.9M at year end (current + noncurrent). ## Subscriptions and services — FACT [1][3][4], SECONDARY [5] - **Garmin Connect / Connect Mobile** free; **Garmin Connect+** premium tier launched Mar 27, 2025 at **$6.99/month or $69.99/year** after a 30-day trial; existing features stay free [3]. Nutrition tracking with AI-based Garmin Active Intelligence added in Q4 2025 [2]. - **inReach** satellite communication needs an active service plan; SOS supported 24/7 by Garmin Response [1]. U.S. consumer plans: Enabled $7.99/mo, Essential $14.99/mo, Standard $29.99/mo, Premium $49.99/mo, plus $39.99 activation fee [4][5]. - **Outdoor Maps+**, **Garmin Golf membership**, aviation databases, **Garmin Pilot**, **PlaneSync**, **AeroData**, extended warranties — subscription or service offers named in the 10-K [1]. Prices not cited here. - **Connect IQ** SDK lets third parties build watch faces, apps, widgets and data fields for Garmin devices [1]. ## Channels and customers — FACT [1] Indirect channels: worldwide network of independent retailers, dealers, distributors, installation and repair shops, and OEMs. Direct: garmin.com webshop, subscriptions for connected services, Garmin retail stores — direct channels were greater than 10% of FY2025 net sales. Aviation sells to aircraft OEMs and through dealers for retrofit; Auto OEM is a tier-one supplier of domain controllers and infotainment (latest BMW domain-controller program cited in the release [2]). ## Operations and resources — FACT [1] - Vertically integrated manufacturing in Taiwan, the U.S., the Netherlands, the U.K., Poland and China; Taiwan makes the highest-volume products. - ~23,000 employees at Dec 27, 2025 (≈6,500 engineering/development, ≈10,200 manufacturing). - Over 2,100 patents and more than 1,290 trademark registrations. - Over 300 million products delivered since inception, more than 20 million in fiscal 2025. - Principal properties: ~2.24M sq ft owned in Olathe, Kansas; ~1.85M sq ft owned in Taiwan. - Competitors named include Apple, Samsung, Google, Coros, Polar, Suunto, Whoop (fitness/outdoor); Honeywell, Collins (RTX), Thales (aviation); Navico (Brunswick), Raymarine (Teledyne) (marine); Bosch, Continental, Harman (auto OEM). ## Business model read — INFERENCE Garmin is a hardware company first: about 95% of revenue is device sales recognized at shipment, priced at premium levels that sustain a ~59% gross margin. It spreads one engineering and manufacturing base across five niches where it can be a specialist (endurance athletes, hikers, pilots, boaters, automakers). Services (Connect+, inReach plans, aviation databases, map updates) add recurring revenue but were only ~$335M of FY2025 revenue recognized over time; their bigger role is to keep users inside the ecosystem and support the next device purchase. Auto OEM is the low-margin, loss-making segment; Aviation has the richest gross margin. ## Gaps No disclosed subscriber counts for Connect+ or inReach; no disclosed revenue split for subscriptions vs devices beyond the over-time figure. Not invented here.