Generac Holdings Inc. is facing a shortage of portable backup generators following Hurricane Helene and other recent storms that left millions of Americans without power. Many of the company’s portable products sold out in the wake of Helene’s impact on the U.S. Southeast, according to Chief Executive Officer Aaron Jagdfeld.
“The more outages that occur, the more interest grows in our product,” Jagdfeld remarked during a recent interview.
As a result of increased demand, Generac’s stock reached a 52-week high on Monday, with investors anticipating a significant surge in sales of backup power systems due to multiple hurricane strikes across the country. Shares increased by 1.4% as of 9:33 a.m. in New York on Wednesday.
Hurricane Milton, which has rapidly intensified into a major storm in the Gulf of Mexico, is expected to cause widespread outages and damage in Florida when it makes landfall late Wednesday.
Jagdfeld noted that the key challenge for the company will be getting portable products onto store shelves following the storm’s passage. “If it’s not there yet, it probably isn’t going to arrive until a few days after landfall,” he explained.
As one of the largest generator companies in the United States, Generac also offers home standby generators that are not portable.
According to Jagdfeld, the U.S. has recorded 1.2 billion hours of power outages in the first nine months of this year, the highest figure since 2010 when Generac began tracking outage data. He mentioned that the company typically generates an additional $50 to $100 million in revenue from significant outages like those caused by Hurricane Helene.
You Might Be Interested In