Camping World Holdings Q2 FY26 earnings call CWH

Camping World made a deliberate decision to move through aged and prior model year inventory during Q2, which pressured vehicle gross profit but was deemed the right strategic call. This effort resulted in prior model year new RV exposure nearing 1% (down from over 6% a year ago) and a 60% reduction in new vehicles aged over 365 days. Used inventory units are down 18% compared to year-end 2025, with the average age of used inventory down over 30% and aged inventory over 180 days down almost 50%.

The company identified initiatives expected to deliver approximately $100 million of incremental annualized SG&A savings. This broad program involves 20 specific initiatives, including retiring legacy software, replacing third-party systems with in-house technology, renegotiating agreements, and simplifying back-office processes. A new enterprise-grade RV sales CRM, developed in-house, is being rolled out and is anticipated to eliminate over $20 million of annualized costs once fully deployed.

Despite a 16% decline in new vehicle retail registrations through May (per preliminary SSI data), Camping World gained new unit market share, exceeding 29% of all new RVs sold in the US. This was achieved while growing new vehicle average sales price by 13%, driven by targeted share gains in the fifth wheel and motorized segments. The company attributes the market weakness^🌐 to geopolitical tensions, gas prices, affordability, consumer confidence, and higher interest rates.

The used RV segment remains paramount to the company's long-term success, offering a more affordable path into the RV lifestyle and creating opportunities across F&I, Good Sam, and service. Same-store used vehicle unit sales grew over 5% in the quarter. The company expects the used RV market to track within the 715,000 to 750,000 unit range for the full year, believing it to be stable and less affected by the issues impacting the new RV market.

Good Sam services and plans gross margin expanded to 61.8% from 59.5% a year ago. The company completed its ERP overhaul for Good Sam in Q2, enabling the team to pursue B2B opportunities with its extensive platform. Management remains confident in Good Sam's ability to be a long-term growth driver with additional top-line opportunities.

The company implemented a new tiered labor rate structure for consumers to make service more affordable. This includes $99/hour for installations, $120/hour for maintenance, and $199/hour for complex jobs like collision repair. While this has led to increased revenue, gross profit has remained flat due to the reduced rates. The effective labor rate has settled around $165/hour, similar to previous levels after discounting.

The Costco program was reset in April to reimagine the lead process and marketing strategy, restarting in May. While roadshows have shown an uptick in general sales volume in specific regions, the program is not expected to hit its original goal of 3,500-5,000 sales this year, currently in the hundreds of units. It is now viewed as a play for next year, given the seasonal demand fall-off in Q3/Q4.