How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.
Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Garmin (GRMN) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to GRMN for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Garmin's Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Garmin's main business drivers.
Olathe, Kansas-based, Garmin, Ltd. is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of navigation and communication equipment that incorporate the global positioning system (GPS)-based technology.
The company’s diverse portfolio of handheld, portable and fixed-mount GPS-enabled devices provides geographical location and navigation data using the GPS satellite system.
Garmin reported revenues of $6.3 billion in 2024. The company reports operations under five segments: Outdoor, Fitness, Marine, Auto and Aviation, which generated 31.2%, 28.2%, 17%, 9.7% and 13.9% of revenues, respectively.
Outdoor products currently include handhelds, wearables, golfing devices, dog tracking/training devices and action cameras. The Fitness segment offers running and cycling products of various kinds and includes platforms for connecting and sharing data with others. Marine products include chartplotters, fishfinders, sounders, autopilot systems, radars, instruments, radios, handhelds and wrist-worn devices, sailing and entertainment products. Auto offers personal navigation devices (PNDs), infotainment solutions and mobile applications. Aviation offers integrated avionics or flight decks; panel mounted navigation, traffic, audio, transponder, weather and other products; portable and wearable solutions; and mobile apps.
Products are manufactured at its Xizhi, Jhongli and LinKou facilities in Taiwan, its Yangzhou facility in China and its Olathe, Kansas and Salem, Oregon facilities in the U.S. They are sold through a big network of independent dealers across 100 countries globally.
Garmin products are distributed through a hybrid sales channel system that utilizes a network of distributors and retailers. They are also sold directly to OEMs that integrate the GPS capability into their end product.
Bottom Line
While anyone can invest, building a lucrative investment portfolio takes research, patience, and a little bit of risk. If you had invested in Garmin ten years ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.
According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in February 2016 would be worth $6,227.17, or a gain of 522.72%, as of February 23, 2026, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
In comparison, the S&P 500's gained 260.29% and the price of gold went up 299.78% over the same time frame.
Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for GRMN.
Garmin is benefiting from strong momentum across the Fitness and Auto OEM segments. While strength in the Fitness segment is primarily attributed to advanced wearables demand, Auto OEM revenues are driven by increased shipments of domain controllers. Strong momentum across the Aviation, Marine and Outdoor segments is an upside. Increasing demand in the Americas and EMEA regions is a plus. Garmin's growing focus on continued innovation, diversification and market expansion to explore opportunities across all business segments is praiseworthy. Our estimates suggest that Garmin's revenues are expected to witness a CAGR of 8.8% during fiscal 2025-2027. The stock has outperformed its industry over the past year. However, weakness in the aftermarket product categories remains concerning for the Aviation segment.
The stock has jumped 20.73% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 1 higher, for fiscal 2026; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.
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Garmin Ltd. (GRMN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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