Edgar Filing: Malibu Boats, Inc.

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017

Commission file number: 001-36290

MALIBU BOATS, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as specified in its charter)



Delaware	5075 Kimberly Way Loudon, Tennessee 37774	46-4024640
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)	(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
	(865) 458-5478
	(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)



Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class		Name of each exchange on which registered
Class A Common Stock ($0.01 par value per share)		NASDAQ Global Select Market

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ¨ No þ

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ¨ No þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in the definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company or emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:



Large accelerated filer	¨	Accelerated filer	þ

Non-accelerated filer	¨ (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)	Smaller reporting company	¨

Emerging growth company	þ

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ¨ No þ

As of December 31, 2016, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates was approximately $303.0 million, based on the number of shares of Class A common stock held by non-affiliates as of December 31, 2016 and the closing price of the registrant’s Class A common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on December 31, 2016. Shares held by each executive officer, director and by each person who owns 10% or more of the outstanding Class A common stock have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes. The number of outstanding shares of the registrant’s Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, and Class B common stock, par value $0.01, as of September 6, 2017 was 20,287,030 and 18, respectively.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s Proxy Statement for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. Such proxy statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days of the registrant’s fiscal year ended June 30, 2017.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS




		Page
PART I		3
Item 1.	Business	3
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	21
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	37
Item 2.	Properties	37
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings	37
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	37

PART II		38
Item 5.	Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	38
Item 6.	Selected Financial Data	40
Item 7.	Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	43
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	63
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	65
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	105
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	105
Item 9B.	Other Information	105

PART III		106
Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	106
Item 11.	Executive Compensation	106
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	106
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	106
Item 14.	Principal Accounting Fees and Services	106

PART IV
Item 15.	Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules	107
Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary	108
SIGNATURES		109

Table of Contents

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Form 10-K are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding expected benefits of our acquisition of Cobalt Boats, LLC, demand for our products and expected industry trends, our business strategy and plans, our prospective products or products under development, our vertical integration initiatives, our acquisition strategy and management’s objectives for future operations. In particular, many of the statements under the headings “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Item 1. Business” constitute forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” the negative of these terms, or by other similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions, involving known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the successful integration of Cobalt Boats, LLC into our business; general economic conditions; significant fluctuations in our annual and quarterly financial results; unfavorable weather conditions; our reliance on our network of independent dealers and increasing competition for dealers; the financial health of our dealers and their continued access to financing; our obligation to repurchase inventory of certain dealers; our failure to manage our manufacturing levels while addressing the seasonal retail pattern for our products; our large fixed cost base; intense competition within our industry; increased consumer preference for used boats or the supply of new boats by competitors in excess of demand; the successful introduction of new products; the success of our engines integration strategy; competition with other activities for consumers’ scarce leisure time; the continued strength of our brands; our ability to execute our manufacturing strategy successfully; our ability to meet our manufacturing workforce needs; our reliance on third-party suppliers and ability to obtain adequate raw materials and components; our exposure to claims for product liability and warranty claims; our dependence on key personnel; our ability to grow our business through acquisitions or strategic alliances and new partnerships; our growth strategy which may require us to secure significant additional capital; our ability to protect our intellectual property; disruptions to our network and information systems; exposure to workers' compensation claims and other workplace liabilities; risks inherent in operating in foreign jurisdictions; changes in currency exchange rates; an increase in energy and fuel costs; any failure to comply with laws and regulations including environmental and other regulatory requirements; a natural disaster or other disruption at our manufacturing facilities; increases in income tax rates or changes in income tax laws; covenants in our credit facilities which may limit our operating flexibility; our variable rate indebtedness which subjects us to interest rate risk; our status as an “emerging growth company”; and any failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls or procedures.

We discuss many of these factors, risks and uncertainties in greater detail under the heading “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Form 10-K. These factors expressly qualify as forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf.

You should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Actual results may differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements for various reasons, including those discussed under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in this Form 10-K. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this Form 10-K to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.

Table of Contents

PART I.

Item 1. Business

Unless otherwise expressly indicated or the context otherwise requires, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K:


•	we use the terms “Malibu Boats,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” or similar references to refer (1) prior to the consummation of our IPO on February 5, 2014, to Malibu Boats Holdings, LLC, or the LLC, and its consolidated subsidiaries and (2) after our IPO, to Malibu Boats, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries;


•	we refer to our initial public offering of Class A common stock on February 5, 2014, as our “IPO”;


•	we refer to the owners of membership interests in the LLC immediately prior to the consummation of the IPO, collectively, as our “pre-IPO owners”;


•	we refer to owners of membership interests in the LLC (the "LLC Units"), collectively, as our “LLC members”;


•	references to “fiscal year” refer to the fiscal year of Malibu Boats, which ends on June 30. Fiscal year 2013 for the LLC ended on June 30, 2013. Fiscal years 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 ended on June 30, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively;


•	we use the term “recreational powerboat industry” to refer to our industry group, which includes performance sport boats, sterndrive and outboard boats;

•

we use the term “performance sport boat category” to refer to our industry category, consisting primarily of fiberglass boats equipped with inboard propulsion and ranging from 19 feet to 26 feet in length, which we believe most closely corresponds to (1) the inboard ski/wakeboard category, as defined and tracked by the National Marine Manufacturers Association, or NMMA, and (2) the inboard skiboat category, as defined and tracked by Statistical Surveys, Inc., or SSI;


•	we use the terms “sterndrive” and “outboard” to refer to our newly expanded industry category, consisting primarily of sterndrive and outboard boats ranging from 20 feet to 40 feet, which most closely corresponds to (1) the sterndrive and outboard categories, as defined and tracked by NMMA, and (2) the sterndrive and outboard propulsion categories, as defined and tracked by SSI; and

•

references to certain market and industry data presented in this Form 10-K are determined as follows: (1) U.S. boat sales and unit volume for the overall powerboat industry and any powerboat category during any calendar year are based on retail boat market data from the NMMA; (2) U.S. market share and unit volume for the overall powerboat industry and any powerboat category during any fiscal year ended June 30 or any calendar year ended December 31 are based on comparable same-state retail boat registration data from SSI, as reported by the 50 states for which data was available as of the date of this Form 10-K; and (3) market share among U.S. manufacturers of exports to international markets of boats in any powerboat category for any period is based on data from the Port Import Export Reporting Service, available through March 31, 2017, and excludes such data for Australia and New Zealand.

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes our trademarks, such as “Surf Gate,” “Wakesetter,” “SurfBand,” “Swim Step,” and “TrueWave” which are protected under applicable intellectual property laws and are the property of Malibu Boats. This Form 10-K also contains trademarks, service marks, trade names and copyrights of other companies, which are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this Form 10-K may appear without the ^® or TM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the right of the applicable licensor to these trademarks and trade names.

Our Company

We are a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a diverse range of recreational powerboats, including performance sport boats, sterndrive and outboard boats. We have the #1 market share position in the United States in the performance sport boat category through our Malibu and Axis Wake Research (“Axis”) brands. With our recent acquisition of Cobalt Boats, LLC (“Cobalt”) in July 2017, we also have the #1 market share position in the United States through our Cobalt brand in the 24’—29’ segment of the sterndrive category. Our boats are used for water sports, including water skiing, wakeboarding and wake surfing, as well as general recreational boating. We believe we have been a consistent innovator in the recreational powerboat industry, designing products that appeal to an expanding range of recreational boaters and water sports enthusiasts whose passion for boating and water sports is a key aspect of their lifestyle. We believe many of our innovations, such as our

proprietary Surf Gate technology launched in 2012, expand the market for our products by introducing consumers to new and exciting recreational activities. We also added another strong brand in Cobalt with a versatile lineup of boats, further deepening our product portfolio, expanding our addressable market, and ultimately, our ability to provide consumers with a better customer-inspired experience. We believe that the performance, quality, value and multi-purpose features of our boats position us to achieve our goal of increasing our market share in the expanding recreational boating industry.

We sell our boats under three brands—Malibu; Axis; and Cobalt. Our flagship Malibu boats offer our latest innovations in performance, comfort and convenience, and are designed for consumers seeking a premium performance sport boat experience. Retail prices of our Malibu boats typically range from $50,000 to $180,000. We launched our Axis boats in 2009 to appeal to consumers who desire a more affordable performance sport boat product but still demand high performance, functional simplicity and the option to upgrade key features. Retail prices of our Axis boats typically range from $50,000 to $95,000. Our Cobalt boats consist of mid to large-sized luxury cruisers and bowriders that we believe offer the ultimate experience in comfort, performance and quality. Retail prices for our Cobalt boats typically range from $50,000 to $700,000.

Our boats are constructed of fiberglass, available in a range of sizes, hull designs and propulsion systems (i.e., inboard, sterndrive and outboard). We employ experienced product development and engineering teams that enable us to offer a range of models across each of our brands while consistently introducing innovative features in our product offerings. Our engineering team closely collaborates with our manufacturing personnel in order to improve product quality and process efficiencies. The results of this collaboration are reflected in our receipt of numerous industry awards, including the "WSIA Innovation of Year" for the Malibu Command Center in 2017 and the Boating Industry's "Top Product Award" for the Integrated Surf Platform ("ISP") in 2016.

We sell our boats through a dealer network that we believe is the strongest in the recreational powerboat industry. As of July 1, 2017, our Malibu and Axis brand distribution channel consisted of 126 independent dealers operating in 146 locations in North America and we had 59 independent dealer locations across 40 countries outside of North America, including Australia. Our Malibu and Axis brand boats are the exclusive performance sport boats offered by the majority of our dealers. Our acquisition of Cobalt has allowed us to expand into Cobalt’s strong network which consists of 111 independent dealers operating 142 locations worldwide with a large percentage of those dealers having the #1 or #2 market share in their respective markets. The acquisition of Cobalt has increased our total independent dealer network to over 300 locations globally. Our dealer base is an important part of our consumers’ experience, our marketing efforts and our brands. We devote significant time and resources to find, develop and improve the performance of our dealers and believe our dealer network gives us a distinct competitive advantage.

Financial Information About Segments

We currently report our results of operations under two reportable segments called U.S. and Australia segments based on their respective geographic manufacturing footprints. Each segment participates in the manufacturing, distribution, marketing and sale of Malibu and Axis performance sport boats. The U.S. operating segment primarily serves markets in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia while the Australia operating segment principally serves the Australian and New Zealand markets. The segment and geographic information required herein is contained in Note 17 - Segment Reporting, in the notes to our consolidated financial statements.

We acquired Cobalt in July 2017, and as of the date of this report, we have not made a final assessment as to the number of reportable segments the Company will have in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 280, Segment Reporting, going forward.

Our Market Opportunity

During calendar year 2016, retail sales of new recreational powerboats in the United States totaled $8.2 billion. Of the recreational powerboat categories defined and tracked by the NMMA, our core market corresponds most directly to the inboard ski/wakeboard category, which we refer to as the performance sport boat category. We serve this category through our Malibu, Axis and Cobalt brands. Through our Cobalt brand, we also now directly access the larger outboard and sterndrive categories, which together accounted for $5.5 billion in retail sales in calendar year 2016. Combined, our product portfolio allows us to meaningfully access an addressable market that represented nearly $6.6 billion of sales in 2016. The following table illustrates the size of our addressable market in units and retail sales for calendar year 2016:



Powerboat Category	Unit Sales	Retail Sales
		(Dollars in millions)
Outboard	160,900	$	4,659
Sterndrive	12,200	878
Performance sport boat	8,700	818
Jet boat	5,000	205
Total addressable market	186,800	$	6,560

We believe we are well-positioned to benefit from trends in our addressable market, including:

Improving Macroeconomic Environment Driving Increased Consumer Demand for Boats. Following the economic downturn, the recreational powerboat industry has grown and is projected to continue to recover by the NMMA. While domestic sales of recreational powerboats in 2016 grew to approximately 186,800 units, they remained 37% below the historical peak 2006 sales volume of approximately 298,000 units. Within our primary category, performance sport boats, units grew to approximately 8,700 in 2016, 34% below the category's historical peak 2006 sales volume of 13,100, We believe there remains significant opportunity for growth from increased consumer demand in the recreational powerboat industry as the economy improves, but there are numerous variables that have potential to impact future growth.

Size and Strong Growth of Outboard Category. The outboard category of the recreational powerboat industry is the largest category, measured both by unit sales and retail sales. In 2016, outboard boats represented approximately 86% of total units sold and approximately 71% of total retail sales in the United States. Additionally, the outboard category has been one of the strongest performers of the recreational powerboat industry over the past several years. The chart below illustrates the performance of the outboard category based on retail sales since 2010, growing, on average, 7.7% in each of the past six years:

With our recent Cobalt acquisition, we now have a product line designed specifically to target the outboard category of the recreational powerboat industry. We believe the outboard category will continue to be the largest and one of the strongest categories of the recreational powerboat industry, and that significant opportunity remains for us to enhance our outboard product portfolio and dealer distribution network to capitalize on the outboard category’s performance.

Increasing Ages of Used Boats Driving New Boat Sales. In 2016, according to NMMA retail sales data, new recreational powerboats accounted for approximately one out of five recreational powerboat sales in the United States compared to an average of approximately one out of four between 2002 and 2008. We believe the shift toward purchasing more used boats during the economic downturn helped cause the average age of recreational powerboats in use to increase from 15 years in 1997 to over 21 years today. We believe that as the recreational powerboat industry continues its ongoing recovery and older boats reach the end of their usable lives, we expect consumer purchases of new boats to shift back toward historic levels benefiting new boat manufacturers.

Our Strengths

#1 Market Share Position in Performance Sport Boat Category. According to SSI, we have held the number one market share position, based on unit volume, in the United States among manufacturers of performance sport boats for calendar years since 2010 including 2016. We have grown our U.S. market share from 24.4% in 2010 to 33.0% in 2016. The following table reflects our U.S. market share in the performance sport boat category compared to the market share of our competitors for the periods shown:



	U.S. Market Share in Performance Sport Boat Category
Manufacturer/Brand(s)	2010		2011		2012		2013		2014		2015		2016

Malibu Boats/Malibu and Axis	24.4	%	29.0	%	30.8	%	33.0	%	32.0	%	32.0	%	33.0	%
Correct Craft, Inc./Nautique¹	23.1		19.9		19.6		20.6		23.0		21.6		21.9
MasterCraft Boat Company, LLC/MasterCraft	23.3		23.9		21.8		20.0		20.5		21.7		21.5
Skier's Choice, Inc./Supra and Moomba	16.7		15.6		14.7		12.6		12.0		12.8		12.2
All others	12.5		11.6		13.1		13.8		12.5		11.9		11.4
Total	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%



(1)		In June 2015, Correct Craft acquired majority interest in both Centurion Boats and Supreme Boats. Accordingly, market share for Ski Supreme, Centurion, and Nautique Boat Company, Inc. ("Nautique") are reflected combined here for all periods for better comparison.

In addition, our 48% market share of performance sport boat exports to international markets for the 12 months ended March 31, 2017 was the highest among U.S. manufacturers and was more than the market share of our top two competitors combined.

#1 Market Share Position in the 24’—29’ Segment of the Sterndrive Boat Category. Our recent acquisition of Cobalt has established us as a market leader in the sterndrive category. According to SSI, our Cobalt brand holds the highest market share for sterndrive boats in the 24’—29’ segment, a segment that we believe is the largest segment within the overall sterndrive category by retail sales dollars. Since 2010, Cobalt has expanded its market share in this segment from 14.2% in 2010 to 29.2% in 2016. The following table reflects our U.S. market share in the 24’—29’ segment of the sterndrive boat category compared to the market share of our competitors for the periods shown (certain totals for the table below will not sum to exactly 100% due to rounding):



	U.S. Market Share in Sterndrive 24'-29' Segment
Manufacturer/Brand(s)	2010		2011		2012		2013		2014		2015		2016
(units sold)
Cobalt Boats	14.2	%	18.3	%	18.1	%	21.0	%	27.0	%	27.8	%	29.2	%
Sea Ray	18.6		20.7		20.6		17.2		16.6		16.5		15.4
Chaparral	12.7		16.7		15.7		18.0		16.1		14.9		14.0
Regal Boats	5.1		5.9		7.5		8.1		6.9		9.3		8.9
Crownline	6.4		6.7		8.5		7.5		6.9		7.5		8.4
Monterey	3.6		4.9		5.6		6.7		6.1		6.4		6.9
All Others	39.4		26.8		24.0		21.6		20.4		17.7		17.1
Total	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%	100.0	%

Industry-leading Product Design and Innovation. We believe that our innovation in the design of new boat models and new features has been a key to our success, helping us increase our market share within our categories and generally broaden the appeal of our products among recreational boaters. As a result of the features we have introduced, we believe that our boats are used for an increasingly wide range of activities and are increasingly easier to use, while maintaining the high performance characteristics that consumers expect. Additionally, by introducing new boat models in a range of price points, sizes, bow and hull designs, engine propulsion, and optional performance features, we believe we have enhanced consumers’ ability to select a boat suited to their individual preferences. Our commitment to, and consistency in, developing new boat models and introducing new features are reflected in several notable achievements, including:


•	release of our patented Surf Gate technology in 2012, which allows users to surf on either side of the boat’s wake, generates a better quality surf wave and was the WSIA Innovation of the Year in 2013;


•	launch of the Axis brand of boats in 2009, designed from the ground up to be an entry-level product, which has already captured a 11.3% share of the U.S. market in our category as of December 31, 2016;


•	evolution of our patented Power Wedge, introduced in 2006 into the industry leading Integrated Surf Platform that includes an array of exclusive Malibu technology—Power Wedge II, Surf Gate, Surf Band and Command Center—and provides our consumers with the ability to customize the size and shape of their wakes and waves;

•

successful new model introductions each year. For model year 2017, we launched four new Malibu models: the Malibu Wakesetter 24 MXZ, the Malibu Wakesetter 22 MXZ, and the Malibu Wakesetter 21 VLX were all launched in the summer of 2016; and the Malibu Response TXi was launched in November of 2016. For model year 2017, five new Cobalt models were launched: the Gateway Series CS1, the A Series A36, the SD-SC Series 23SC and 25SC Outboards, and the WSS Surf Series CS3WSS Surf; and


•	a strong new expected product lineup for model year 2018 that includes a new Axis T22, a new Axis A24, an unidentified Malibu introduction and the launch of the new Wakesetter 23 LSV. In addition, Cobalt expects to announce three new models for model year 2018.

Focus on Vertical Integration Opportunities. We have vertically integrated several key components of our manufacturing process, including the manufacturing of boat trailers, towers and tower accessories, machined and billet parts, and tooling. Most recently, we announced an initiative to vertically integrate engine marinization for our Malibu and Axis brands. Vertical integration of key components of our boats gives us the ability to increase incremental margin per boat sold by reducing our cost base and improving the efficiency of our manufacturing process. Additionally, it allows us to have greater control over design, consumer customization options, construction quality, and our supply chain. For example, if our engine marinization initiative is implemented, our reliance on our two engine suppliers for Malibu and Axis will be significantly diminished, reducing the risk that a change in cost or production from any engine supplier could adversely affect our business. We continually review our manufacturing process to identify opportunities for additional vertical integration investments.

Intellectual Property. A key element of our growth and increased market share has been our intellectual property, which we believe is the best in our industry. Among the most innovative and sought after features on our boats has been Surf Gate. Together with Power Wedge and Surf Band, we believe that these patented technologies will continue to drive demand for our

products and increased margins. With our acquisition of Cobalt, we have acquired additional valuable intellectual property, such as Swim Step, further increasing the appeal of our product portfolio. Consequently, there is an increased need to vigorously defend our patents and other intellectual property to ensure we maintain our competitive edge. Because of the appeal of these technologies, we have entered into agreements to license them to other manufacturers within the performance sport boat category. We believe licensing our products provides us with a significant strategic advantage over our competitors by allowing us to expand into other markets and broadening the appeal of these technologies into segments that would not otherwise have them, thereby eventually creating a path to a Malibu purchase.

Strong Dealer Network. We have worked diligently with our dealers to develop one of the strongest distribution networks in the recreational powerboat industry. We believe that our Malibu and Axis brand distribution network of 146 North American dealer locations and 59 international dealer locations as of July 1, 2017 allows us to distribute our performance sport boat products more broadly and effectively than our competitors. For calendar year 2016, our Malibu and Axis brand dealers held or tied for the #1 market share position for the performance sport boat category in 70 of 119 U.S. markets. Our Cobalt distribution network includes 142 worldwide dealer locations. Of those, 22 Cobalt dealers are ranked in Boating Industry’s Top 100 Dealers survey, with six Cobalt dealers ranked in the top 10. We continually review our geographic coverage to identify opportunities for expansion and improvement, and will, where necessary, add dealer locations to address previously underserved markets or replace underperforming dealers.

Highly Recognized Brands. We believe our Malibu, Axis and Cobalt brands are widely recognized in the recreational powerboat industry, which helps us reach a growing number of target consumers. For over 30 years, our Malibu brand has generated a loyal following of recreational boaters and water sports enthusiasts who value the brand’s premium performance and features. Our Axis brand has grown rapidly as consumers have been drawn to its more affordable price point and available optional features. Our newly-acquired Cobalt brand has developed into one of the industry’s most recognizable and respected brands over its 50-year history. We believe that the appeal of our superior performance and innovative products combined with our history with boating enthusiasts and professional water sports athletes contributes to our brand awareness with dealers and consumers. We are able to build on this brand recognition and support through a series of marketing initiatives coordinated with our dealers or executed directly by us. Our marketing efforts are conducted using an array of strategies, which include digital advertising, social media engagement, advertisements in endemic media and the sponsorship of grass-roots boating and watersport events. Additionally, our boats, their innovative features, our sponsored athletes and our dealers all frequently win industry awards, which we believe further boosts our brand recognition and reputation for excellence. We believe our marketing strategies and accomplishments enhance our profile in the industry, strengthen our credibility with consumers and dealers, and increase the appeal of our brands.

Diverse Product Offering. Our acquisition of Cobalt broadens our product portfolio, allowing us to engage consumers in multiple categories within the recreational powerboat industry. Malibu operates in the performance sport boat category, controlling the highest market share. Cobalt is the market leader in the 24’—29’ segment of the sterndrive category, and has recently expanded its product portfolio beyond traditional sterndrive boats with the introduction of its wake surfing and outboard product lines, increasing Cobalt’s addressable market. Overall, we believe our acquisition of Cobalt diversifies our product offering and consumer base, while simultaneously building a collectively stronger boat manufacturer.

Compelling Margins and Cash Flow. Our net income margin was 8.0% and 11.0% for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, respectively. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 19.1% and 19.8% for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, respectively. For the definition of adjusted EBITDA margin and a reconciliation to net income, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - GAAP Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.” We also produced $35.6 million and $35.9 million of net cash from operating activities for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, respectively. We have previously executed, and continue to execute, on an array of initiatives focused on reducing our costs and improving the efficiency of our manufacturing process, enabling us to maintain attractive margins and strong cash flows. These efforts include vertical integration of engines, trailers, towers and tower accessories production, giving us the ability to increase incremental margin per boat sold. In addition, our low capital expenditure requirements and highly efficient working capital cycle have allowed us to generate significant excess cash flow from operations, excluding one-time litigation costs incurred in each of fiscal years 2016 and 2017. We believe our strong cash flow increases our financial stability and provides us with more flexibility to invest in growth initiatives. We further believe our experience implementing operational improvements and vertical integration initiatives to expand margin will positively impact the performance of our recently acquired Cobalt subsidiary. Significant opportunities for operational and financial improvement exist within the Cobalt business and include sourcing and procurement, lamination, assembly processes personnel management, and vertical integration.

Highly Experienced Management Team. Our experienced management team has demonstrated its ability to navigate various economic cycles, identify, create and integrate new product innovations, improve financial performance, optimize operations, enhance our distribution model and recruit top industry talent. Our Chief Executive Officer, Jack Springer, joined Malibu Boats in 2009 and has assembled an executive team with strong, complementary talents and experience. This team has

led a workforce that we believe has produced superior results, including market share gains, sales growth and profitability improvement.

Our Strategy

We intend to capitalize on the recovery in the recreational powerboat industry through the following strategies:

Continue to Develop New and Innovative Products in Our Categories. We intend to continue developing and introducing new and innovative products—both new boat models to better address a broader range of consumers and new features to deliver better performance, functionality, convenience, comfort and safety to our consumers. We believe that new products and features are important to the growth of our market share, the continued expansion of our categories and our ability to maintain attractive margins.

Our product development strategy consists of a two-pronged approach. First, we seek to introduce new boat models to target unaddressed or underserved segments of the recreational powerboat industry, while also updating and refreshing our existing boat models regularly. For example, we introduced Axis-branded boats starting in 2009 to address the entry-level segment of the performance sport boat category, we launched the Malibu Wakesetter MXZ product line in 2012 to enter the premium “picklefork” bow design segment of the performance sport boat category, and we released the Malibu M235 in 2016 to deliver luxury and performance in the ultra-premium segment of the performance sport boat category. Second, we seek to develop and integrate innovative new features into our boats, such as Surf Gate, Malibu Touch Command and Power Wedge. Over the past two years, we have continued these strategies by introducing eight new models, including three in the Axis line, and we have enhanced our optional feature offerings with the new Power Wedge II and the industry’s first 12-inch touchscreen dash system. For our 2017 model year, we released the Wakesetter 22 MXZ, the Wakesetter 24 MXZ, the Wakesetter 21VLX and the Malibu Response TXi. We intend to continue releasing new products and features multiple times during the year, which we believe enhances our reputation as a leading-edge boat manufacturer and provides us with a competitive advantage. For our 2018 model year, which began July 1, 2017, we released the newly redesigned Wakesetter 23 LSV, Axis T22 and the Axis A24 and, in November 2017, we expect to launch a new Malibu model. In addition, our initiative to produce our own engines, announced in November 2016, is well underway and we expect to continue our vertical integration strategy focused on delivering better quality and value to our consumers while enhancing margins.

Our recent acquisition of Cobalt is consistent with this strategy, given Cobalt’s strong track record of producing innovative new products and refreshing existing boat models. Cobalt has established a leading market position in the sterndrive category, having progressively updated its portfolio with new models in line with emerging industry trends. In 2017, Cobalt launched a series of Cobalt-branded outboard propulsion models to expand its addressable market. Cobalt has been able to achieve growth in recent years partly by pivoting and expanding into the performance sport boat category through its new Cobalt Surf series, combining new surf features into successful preexisting CS3, R3, R5 and R7 models.

Further Strengthen Our Dealer Network. Our goal is to achieve and maintain leading market share in each of the categories in which we operate. We continually assess our distribution network and believe we take the actions necessary to achieve our goal. We intend to strengthen our current footprint by selectively recruiting market-leading dealers who currently sell our competitors’ products. In addition, we plan to continue expanding our dealer network in certain geographic areas to increase consumer access and service in strategic markets. Our recent acquisition of Cobalt improves our overall dealer network, as Cobalt distributes through a large percentage of dealers with #1 or #2 market share in their respective markets. We believe our targeted initiatives to enhance and grow our dealer network organically and our integration of Cobalt’s dealer network will increase unit sales in the future.

Continue to Seek Vertical Integration Opportunities. Over the past several years, we have focused on expanding our vertical integration capabilities, having brought in-house the production of towers and tower accessories, trailers, machined and billet parts, and, most recently, we announced an initiative to begin marinizing engines for our Malibu and Axis brand boats. Additional vertical integration opportunities exist, and we are aggressively monitoring these opportunities. With our recent acquisition of Cobalt, we believe opportunities exist to leverage Malibu’s vertical integration investments, including manufacturing towers and tower accessories, trailers, and machined and billet parts for Cobalt boats.

Selectively Pursue Strategic Acquisitions. One of our growth strategies is to drive growth in our business through targeted acquisitions that add value while considering our existing brands and product portfolio. We have focused on growth through acquisitions both domestically and abroad, as evidenced by our recent acquisition of Cobalt and our October 2014 acquisition of our Australian licensee. The primary objectives of our acquisitions are to expand our presence in new or adjacent categories, to expand into other product lines and business that may benefit from our operating strengths, and to increase the size of our addressable market. When we identify potential acquisitions, we attempt to target companies with a leading market share, strong cash flows, and an experienced management team and workforce that provide a fit with our existing operations. After completing an acquisition, we focus on integrating the company with our existing business to provide additional value to the

combined entity through cost savings and revenue synergies, such as the optimization of manufacturing operations, improved processes around product development, enhancement of our existing dealer distribution network, administrative cost savings, shared procurement, vertical integration and cross-selling opportunities.

Accelerate International Expansion. Based on our U.S. leadership position, brand recognition, diverse, innovative product offering and distribution strengths, we believe that we are well-positioned to increase our international sales. Our 48% market share of performance sport boat exports to international markets for the twelve months ended March 31, 2017 was the highest among U.S. manufacturers and is supported by an extensive international distribution network of 59 international dealer locations for our Malibu and Axis brand boats. We believe we can increase our international sales both by promoting our products in developed markets where we have a well-established dealer base, such as Western Europe, and by penetrating new and emerging markets where we expect rising consumer incomes to increase demand for recreational products, such as Asia and South America. Our recent acquisition of Cobalt also expands the product offering that we may offer to dealers and allows us the ability to cross-sell into our existing dealer networks where appropriate.

Our Products and Brands

We design, manufacture and sell recreational powerboats, including performance sport boats, sterndrive and outboard boats, that we believe deliver superior performance for general recreational purposes with a significant focus on water sports, including wakeboarding, water skiing and wake surfing. We market our boats under three brands:


•	Malibu, our flagship brand, dates to our inception in 1982, primarily targeting consumers seeking a premium boating experience and offering our latest innovations in performance, comfort and convenience;


•	Axis, which we launched as a new brand in 2009, targets a younger demographic and provides them with a more affordably priced, entry-level boat that provides high performance, functional simplicity and the option to upgrade key features; and


•	Cobalt, which we acquired in July 2017, has built a longstanding culture of excellence throughout its 50-year history by providing a range of luxury sterndrive and outboard boats.

In addition, we offer various accessories and aftermarket parts.

Boat Models

We believe our boats are renowned for their performance, design, innovative technology, quality and ability to provide consumers a high-quality boating experience at varying price points. We currently offer a number of recreational powerboat models across our three brands, which provide consumers with a variety of options across length, hull type, bow type, horsepower and seating capacity in addition to customizable designs and features available for upgrade across our models. The following table provides an overview of our most popular product offerings by brand:



Brand	Number of Models	Lengths	Propulsion Types	Bow Types	Retail Price Range (In thousands)
Malibu	11	20'-25'	Inboard	Traditional, Picklefork	$50-$180
Axis	5	20’-24’	Inboard	Traditional, Picklefork	$50-$95
Cobalt	18	20’-40’	Sterndrive/Outboard	Traditional	$50-$700

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Malibu Brand. Malibu is our flagship line of performance sport boats offering eleven models through three product series: the Wakesetter series, the M series, and the Response series. The Wakesetter series is our premium, top selling series designed for consumers seeking the highest-performance water sport boat and a luxury boating experience. Wakesetters offer consumers a highly-customizable boat with our most innovative technologies and premium features, with the newest color options and interior finishes. The M series, featuring the Malibu M235, is our line of ultra-premium towboats, built from the ground up by a team of our designers, engineers, and athletes, and designed to provide consumers with a seamless blend of beauty, luxury, and power. The M series is loaded with every technologically innovative feature we offer including our Integrated Surf Platform, premium luxury interiors, most advanced helm in the industry, and our most powerful engine. The Response series, completely redesigned in 2017, was designed for consumers who desire a high-performance water ski focused boat. Primarily because of its direct

drive engine setup, the Response series produces the smallest wake of any of our boats and is designed to accommodate both professional and recreational skiers by allowing for an athlete’s best performance at a range of boat speeds and line lengths.

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Axis Brand. After the continued success with our Wakesetter series, we identified a market opportunity in entry-level performance sport boats and, in 2009, launched our Axis brand. We designed Axis for consumers who desire a lower price point, but who still demand high performance, functional simplicity and the option to upgrade their boats to have key features such as Surf Gate. The Axis series currently has five available models and we plan to refine these models continually as well as add new ones as we build out the brand. We believe the Axis series successfully provides consumers with a high quality water sport and boating experience at an attractive price, as evidenced by its #4 market position in the performance sport boat category after only seven years on the market.

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Cobalt Brand. Cobalt is our premium line of luxury sterndrive and outboard boats available in five product lines: the Gateway Series, the R series, the A series, the SD-SC series, and the WSS/Surf Series. The Gateway series is an entry level fiberglass sterndrive boat designed for budget-conscious consumers who desire the refined quality of Cobalt boats, but at shorter lengths and a lower price point. The Gateway series is designed to allow for the comfort, convenience, and performance typically found on much larger Cobalt boats while allowing for an “athletic” use. The R series, the brand’s largest segment, is a mid-range premium fiberglass sterndrive boat constructed using a composite Kevlar and a Z-thane barrier coat that blends a sleek, powerful look with a smooth ride and exceptional performance. The combination of innovative features, performance, and design have enabled Cobalt to achieve the #1 market share with the R5. The A series is our super premium fiberglass sterndrive boat line constructed using a multi-part hull mold in composite Kevlar and with a Z-thane barrier coat that blends yacht-like qualities with a unique, powerful look as well as a smooth ride and exceptional performance. The SD-SC series includes outboard boats designed for increased saltwater durability and ease of maintenance to better penetrate saltwater markets. The WSS Surf series is an offering focused on watersports and is based on our Gateway Series and R Series featuring a sport tower for higher tow point, storage racks, integrated billet board racks, optional tower lights, ballast, surf systems and directional speakers with a look designed to appeal to our younger customers.

Innovative Features

In addition to the standard features included on all of our boats, we offer consumers the ability to upgrade our base models by adding certain of our full line of innovative features designed to enhance performance, functionality and the overall boating experience. We believe our innovative features drive our high average selling prices. Some of these include:

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Surf Gate. Introduced in July 2012 and initially patented in September 2013, Surf Gate is available as an optional feature on all Malibu Wakesetter models and Axis brand boats. Surf Gate has revolutionized the increasingly popular sport of wake surfing. Prior to Surf Gate, boaters needed to empty ballast tanks on one side of the boat and shift passengers around to lean the boat to create a larger, more pronounced surf-quality wake. By employing precisely engineered and electronically controlled panels, Surf Gate alleviates this time-consuming and cumbersome process, allowing boaters to easily surf behind an evenly weighted boat without the need to wait for ballast changes. Recent enhancements to Surf Gate have improved upon the system’s actuators, allowing for easier and faster transfer, as well as the installation of an indicator horn and optional light signaling, which alert riders to wave transfers. For the 2016 model year, we introduced our patented Surf Band technology that allows the rider to control the surf wave, shape, size and side. In 2013, the Watersports Industry Association named Surf Gate as Innovation of the Year.

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Manual Wedge/Power Wedge. Our patented Manual Wedge and Power Wedge allow riders to customize their wakes by simulating up to 1,200 pounds of ballast weight in the transom of their boats. Used in conjunction with Surf Gate, wake surfers are able to customize the size and shape of the wave. The Manual Wedge is available on all Malibu and Axis brand boats. Unlike our Manual Wedge, the Power Wedge, available exclusively on our Malibu line, is fully automated and integrated within the Malibu Touch Command system, increasing functionality and ease-of-use for the driver. Re-engineered for model year 2015, we released the Power Wedge II. It features a larger foil and a 21% surface-area increase, which equates to an additional 300 pounds of simulated ballast, for a total of 1,500 pounds of wake-creating water displacement. In addition, a new upward angle increases lift, allowing the driver to achieve a fully loaded boat planing much faster.

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G3/G4 Tower. Our G3 Towers, available on Malibu brand boats, are fully customizable with speakers, power lights and racks, enhancing the overall style, performance and functionality of our boats. Our G3 Tower can easily be folded down by one person with its weightless, gas spring-assisted design, making the G3 Tower safe and easy to store. We are the only manufacturer of performance sport boats that produces towers in-house, allowing us to control this critical design element of our boats. For model year 2015, we offered a new G4 Tower featuring aerospace aluminum and an

internal honeycomb structure to provide the optimal strength-to-weight ratio, making the G4 three times more rigid than its predecessor. The new design contains automatic visible locks, a fully integrated wiring harness, Z5 Bimini compatibility, and zero pinch points. The new G4 has an aggressive design yet preserves ease of use by taking less than 30 pounds of force to lift, lower, and latch.

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Electronic Dashboard Controls. Every boat in our Wakesetter series is equipped with our MaliView and Malibu Touch Command ("MTC") systems, which function as an electronic command center that enhances the driver’s experience by providing simple and quick control of all systems on board, including the Power Wedge and Surf Gate systems, rider presets, music, lighting and navigation. For the model year 2015, we were first to market with a 12-inch touchscreen. It joined our seven-inch MTC to form the display for our new Command Center, giving the driver endless data in an easy-to-navigate interface. Every major feature is on the home screen, menu paths have been streamlined and each component meets IP60 water-intrusion standards. Built with more processing power, higher levels of integration, a feature-packed new operating system and powerful wireless connectivity, the new Command Center represents the most advanced screen technology available on performance sport boats.

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Surf Band. Malibu’s exclusive, patented Surf Band allows a rider to strap a buoyant, hi-viz wristband and tap a simple, intuitive remote interface to take command of all aspects of the rider's surfing experience. At the same time, the interface enables the driver to monitor the rider through alerts on the electronic command center, eliminating the need for hand-signals to the spotters or driver. If the rider is wakeboarding, the Surf Band lets the rider adjust the Power Wedge II and control speed.


•	Swim Step. Cobalt's patented Swim Step deploys and retracts in seconds. It is outfitted in electropolished 316 stainless steel. The design provides a safe anchor for all water borne activities.

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TrueWave. Every boat in Cobalt’s WSS Surf line comes with TrueWave technology, a feature that is currently patent pending. TrueWave is an automated control surf system that adjusts the bi-axis surf tabs to create the optimum surf wake either on the left or right side. TrueWave creates a fully customizable wake that provides smooth transitions, a wide push zone, and a solid pop, helping keep the boat evenly weighted and allows boaters to switch from each side in seconds without the need to re-distribute ballast and people.

We also offer an array of less technological, but nonetheless value-added boat features such as gelcoat upgrades, upholstery upgrades, engine drivetrain enhancements (such as silent exhaust tips, propeller upgrades and closed cooling engine configuration), sound system upgrades, Bimini tops, boat covers and trailers which further increase the level of customization afforded to consumers.

Our Dealer Network

We rely on independent dealers to sell our products. We establish performance criteria that our dealers must meet as part of their dealer agreements to ensure our dealer network remains the strongest in the industry. As a member of our network, dealers in North America may qualify for floor plan financing programs, rebates, seasonal discounts, promotional co-op payments and other allowances. We believe our Malibu and Axis dealer network is the most extensive in the performance sport boat category. We recently established a floor plan financing program for our dealers in Europe, which we expect will strengthen our dealers ability to sell our products in Europe. The majority of our Malibu and Axis dealers, including nine in our top ten markets, are exclusive to Malibu and Axis brand boats within the performance sport boat category, highlighting the commitment of our key dealers to our boats. Similarly, many Cobalt dealers have long-standing relationships with Cobalt and derive a significant portion of their income from the Cobalt brand.

North America

In North America, we had a total of 146 dealer locations for our Malibu and Axis brands as of July 1, 2017. Of these locations, 17% sell our products exclusively, 65% are multi-line locations that only carry non-competitive brands and products and 17% sell our brands as well as other performance sport boat brands. Approximately 32% of our Malibu and Axis dealer locations have been with us for over ten years. For calendar year 2016, our Malibu and Axis dealers held or tied for the #1 market share position for the performance sport boat category in 70 of 119 U.S. markets. In July 2017, we acquired Cobalt and added their dealership network. Our Cobalt distribution network includes 115 North American dealer locations. Of those, 22 Cobalt dealers are ranked in Boating Industry’s Top 100 Dealers survey, with six Cobalt dealers ranked in the top 10.

We consistently review our distribution network to identify opportunities to expand our geographic footprint and improve our coverage of the market. We have the ability to opportunistically add new dealers and new dealer locations to previously underserved markets and use data and performance metrics to monitor dealer performance. We believe our outstanding dealer network allows us to distribute our products more efficiently than our competitors.

We do not have a significant concentration of sales among our dealers. For fiscal year 2017, our top ten Malibu and Axis brand dealers accounted for 40.6% of our units sold and none of our dealers accounted for more than 6.8% of our total sales volume.

We believe that our strong market position in each region of the United States will help us capitalize on growth opportunities as our industry continues to recover from the economic downturn. In particular, we expect to generate continued growth in the southwestern United States (which includes California), a region that experienced the most pronounced decline in sales of new performance sport boats and where we have our highest regional market share.

International

We have an extensive international distribution network for our Malibu, Axis, and Cobalt brands. As of July 1, 2017, we had 59 international dealer locations in 40 countries, including Europe, Asia, Middle East, South America, South Africa, and Australia/New Zealand for our Malibu and Axis brands. We service our independent dealers in the Australian and New Zealand markets through our Australian operations acquired in October 2014. Including our Australia operations, international unit volumes for Malibu and Axis brands accounted for approximately 9.0% and 8.0% of our total unit volume for fiscal years 2017 and 2016, respectively. Our Cobalt brand, which was acquired in July 2017, has 27 dealer locations in 24 countries, including Europe, South America, South Africa, Australia, and China.

Dealer Management

Our relationship with our dealers is governed through dealer agreements. Each dealer agreement has a finite term lasting between one and three years. Our dealer agreements also are typically terminable without cause by the dealer at any time and by us with 90 days’ prior notice. We may also generally terminate these agreements immediately for cause upon certain events. Pursuant to our dealer agreements, the dealers typically agree to, among other things:


•	represent our products at specified boat shows;


•	market our products only to retail end users in a specific geographic territory;


•	promote and demonstrate our products to consumers;


•	place a specified minimum number of orders of our Malibu, Axis and/or Cobalt brand products during the term of the agreement in exchange for rebate eligibility that varies according to the level of volume they commit to purchase;


•	provide us with regular updates regarding the number and type of our products in their inventory;


•	maintain a service department to service our products, and perform all appropriate warranty service and repairs; and


•	indemnify us for certain claims.

Our dealer network, including all additions, renewals, non-renewals or terminations, is managed by our sales personnel. Our Malibu and Axis sales team operates using a semi-annual dealer review process involving our senior management team. Each individual dealer is reviewed semi-annually with a broad assessment across multiple key elements, including the dealer’s geographic region, market share and customer service ratings, to identify underperforming dealers for remediation and to manage the transition process when non-renewal or termination is a necessary step. The Cobalt sales team manages their dealer network in a similar manner that is less formal than our Malibu and Axis process.

We have developed a system of financial incentives for our dealers based on customer satisfaction and achievement of best practices. Our brands employ dealer incentive programs that have been refined through decades of experience at each brand and may, from time to time, include the following elements:

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Rebates and Discount. Our dealers agree to annual commitment volumes that places each dealer into a certain rebate or discount tier and determines its prospective rebate or discount amount. The structure of the dealer incentive depends on the brand represented. If a dealer meets its annual commitment volume as well as other terms of the rebate program, the dealer is entitled to the specified amounts subject to full compliance with our programs. Failure to meet the commitment volume or other terms of the program may result in partial or complete forfeiture of the dealer’s rebate or discount.


•	Co-op. Dealers of the Malibu and Axis product line may earn certain co-op reimbursements upon reaching a specified level of qualifying expenditures.


•	Free flooring. Our dealers that take delivery of current model year boats in the offseason, typically July through spring, are entitled to have us pay the interest to floor the boat until the earlier of (1) the retail sale of the unit or (2) a date near the end

of the current model year. This program is an additional incentive to encourage dealers to order in the offseason and helps us balance our seasonal production.

Our dealer incentive programs are also structured to promote more evenly distributed ordering throughout the fiscal year, which allows us to achieve better level-loading of our production and thereby generate plant operating efficiencies. In addition, these programs may offer further rewards for dealers who are exclusive to our brands.

Floor Plan Financing

Our North American dealers often purchase boats through floor plan financing programs with third-party floor plan financing providers. During fiscal year 2017, approximately 88% of our domestic shipments were made pursuant to floor plan financing programs through which our dealers participate. These programs allow dealers across our brands to establish lines of credit with third-party lenders to purchase inventory. Under these programs, a dealer draws on the floor plan facility upon the purchase of our boats and the lender pays the invoice price of the boats. As is typical in our industry, we have entered into repurchase agreements with certain floor plan financing providers to our dealers. Under the terms of these arrangements, in the event a lender repossesses a boat from a dealer that has defaulted on its floor financing arrangement and is able to deliver the repossessed boat to us, we are obligated to repurchase the boat from the lender. Our obligation to repurchase such repossessed products for the unpaid balance of our original invoice price for the boat is subject to reduction or limitation based on the age and condition of the boat at the time of repurchase, and in certain cases by an aggregate cap on repurchase obligations associated with a particular floor financing program.

Our exposure under repurchase agreements with third-party lenders is mitigated by our ability to reposition inventory with a new dealer in the event that a repurchase event occurs. The primary cost to us of a repurchase event is any loss on the resale of a repurchased unit, which is often less than 10% of the repurchase amount. For fiscal year 2017, we did not repurchase any boats under our repurchase agreements.

Marketing and Sales

We believe that providing a high level of service to our dealers and end consumers is essential to maintaining our reputation. Our sales personnel receive training on the latest Malibu, Axis and Cobalt products and technologies, as well as training on our competitors’ products and technologies, and attend trade shows to increase their market knowledge. This training is then passed along to our dealers to ensure a consistent marketing message and leverage our marketing expenditures. Malibu, Axis and Cobalt enjoy strong brand awareness, as evidenced by our substantial market share in their respective categories.

Our marketing strategy focuses on strengthening and promoting the Malibu and Axis brands in the performance sport boat marketplace and the Cobalt brand in the outboard and sterndrive marketplaces. In addition to the Malibu, Axis and Cobalt websites and traditional marketing channels such as print advertising and tradeshows, we maintain an active digital advertising and social media platform for all brands, including use of Facebook and Twitter to increase brand awareness, foster loyalty and build a community of users. In addition, we benefit from various Cobalt, Malibu and Axis user-generated videos and photos that are uploaded to websites including YouTube, Vimeo and Instagram. As strategies and marketing plans are developed for our brands and our products, our internal marketing and communications group works to ensure brand cohesion and consistency. We believe that our marketing initiatives, as well as our strategic focus on product innovation, performance and quality attracts aspiring and enthusiast consumers to our brands and products.

Another element of our marketing strategy for the performance sport boat category involves specialized promotions at competitive water sports events, and individual and team sponsorships. Our leading position in the performance sport boat category is supported by our sponsorship of some of the most prestigious water sports competitions, including the Malibu Evolution Pro Series, Malibu Open and in conjunction with the World Wide Wake Association, the Malibu Riders Experience, which we believe positively influences the purchasing habits of enthusiasts and other consumers seeking high-performance products. These events feature some of the most popular figures in water sports, drawing large audiences of enthusiasts to a variety of sites around the country. Further, these events are focused on fan and retail consumer engagement and offer interactive, experiential opportunities for consumers to experience watersports behind our product. To aid in driving brand awareness we also sponsor a team of elite male and female athletes from the professional water sports tours. Team Malibu includes legendary wakeboarders such Raphael Derome and Tarah Mikacich, along with World Wakeskate Champion and two-time Masters Champion Brian Grubb. Additionally, leading members of the team are World Champion waterskiers Thomas Degaspari and World Record Holder Regina Jaquess. The Axis Wake Research Pro Team includes watersports legends like King of the Cable, Best Wake Park Rider, and Wake Park World Series Champion Tom Fooshee. We believe that the performance of our products has been demonstrated by, and our brands benefit from, the success of professional athletes who use our products.

Further, the Cobalt brand has engaged in a year-long marketing campaign to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2017.

Product Development and Engineering

We are strategically and financially committed to innovation, as reflected in our dedicated product development and engineering group and evidenced by our track record of new product introduction. Our product development and engineering group spans both our Tennessee headquarters and our Kansas and California facilities and comprises 20 professionals. These individuals bring to our product development efforts significant expertise across core disciplines, including boat design, trailer design, computer-aided design, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. They are responsible for execution of all facets of our new product strategy, including designing new and refreshed boat models and new features, engineering these designs for manufacturing and integrating new features into our boats. In addition, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer are actively involved in the product development process and integration into manufacturing.

We take a disciplined approach to the management of our product development strategy. We use a formalized phase gate process, overseen by a dedicated project manager, to develop, evaluate and implement new product ideas for both boat models and innovative features. Application of the phase gate process requires management to establish an overall timeline that is sub-divided into milestones, or “gates,” for product development. Setting milestones at certain intervals in the product development process ensures that each phase of development occurs in an organized manner and enables management to become aware of and address any issues in timely fashion, which facilitates on-time, on-target release of new products with expected return on investment. Extensive testing and coordination with our manufacturing group are important elements of our product development process, which we believe enable us to minimize the risk associated with the release of new products. Our phase gate process also facilitates our introduction of new boat models and features throughout the year, which we believe provides us with a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Finally, in addition to our process for managing new product introductions in a given fiscal year, we also engage in longer-term product life cycle and product portfolio planning.

Manufacturing

Our manufacturing efforts are led by our Chief Operating Officer, who brings more than 30 years of experience in the manufacture of performance sport boats. We manufacture Malibu and Axis boats at both our Tennessee and Australia facilities and Cobalt boats at our Kansas facility. We manufacture towers, tower accessories and stainless steel and aluminum billet for our Malibu and Axis brands at our California facility. We manufacturer trailers at our Tennessee facility for our Malibu and Axis brands.

Malibu and Axis

Our Malibu and Axis boats are built through a continuous flow manufacturing process that encompasses fabrication, assembly, quality management and testing. Each boat is produced over a seven-day cycle that includes the fabrication of the hull and deck through gelcoat application and fiberglass lamination, grinding and hole cutting, installation of components, rigging, finishing, detailing and on-the-water testing. Trailers are also produced in a continuous flow manufacturing process involving cutting and bending of the main frame from raw top grade carbon steel, painting using our state of the art system and installation of components. We manufacture certain components and subassemblies for our boats, such as upholstery, stainless steel and aluminum billet and towers. We procure other components, such as engines and electronic controls, from third-party vendors and install them on the boat.

We acquired our tower and tower accessory manufacturing capability for Malibu and Axis in 2009 through the acquisition of certain assets of Titan Wake Accessories, which had been one of our suppliers. Tower-related manufacturing occurs in our Merced-based machine shop, where we use multiple computer-controlled machines to cut all of the aluminum parts required for tower assembly. We are the only performance sport boat company that manufacturers towers in-house. We believe that the vertical integration of these components is a distinct competitive advantage that allows us to control key design elements of our boats and generate higher margins.

We focus on worker safety in our operations. From July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2017, we recorded 3,812,460 consecutive man-hours with only two lost-time accidents, an accomplishment that has reduced workers’ compensation claims and warranty costs, as our most experienced employees continue to remain on the job.

Cobalt

All Cobalt boats, except cruiser boats, are built through a continuous flow manufacturing process that encompasses fabrication, assembly, quality management and testing. Each boat is produced over a 14 day cycle that includes the fabrication of the hull and deck through gelcoat application and fiberglass lamination, grinding and hole cutting, installation of components, rigging, finishing, detailing and in-water testing. Production of cruisers occurs on a dedicated line that allows for

the increased time needed to add the additional content required for production of larger boats. Our plan to integrate Cobalt includes the integration of best practices that will be shared across facilities. We expect bidirectional flow of best practices over the coming years to enhance Cobalt’s operations, as well as Malibu’s operations.

We are committed to continuous improvement in our operations, and we believe our efforts in this regard have resulted in higher gross margins. Specifically, we have increased labor efficiency, reduced cost of materials and reduced warranty claims. Our production engineers evaluate and seek to optimize the configuration of our production line given our production volumes and model mix. We use disciplined mold maintenance procedures to maintain the usable life of our molds and to reduce surface defects that would require rework. We have instituted scrap material reduction and recovery processes, both internally and with our supplier base, helping to manage our material costs. Finally, we have implemented a quality management system to ensure that proper procedures and control measures are in place to deliver consistent, high-quality product, especially as our production volumes have increased.

Suppliers

We purchase a wide variety of raw materials from our supplier base, including resins, fiberglass, hydrocarbon feedstocks and steel, as well as product parts and components, such as engines and electronic controls, through a sales order process.

We have not experienced any material shortages in any of our raw materials, product parts or components. Temporary shortages, when they do occur, usually involve manufacturers of these products adjusting model mixes, introducing new product lines or limiting production in response to an industry-wide reduction in boat demand.

The most significant component used in manufacturing our boats, based on cost, are engines. We maintain a strong and long-standing relationship with our primary supplier of engines from whom we purchased approximately 64% of our engines for fiscal year 2017, and we have also developed a relationship with a second supplier from whom we sourced approximately 36% of our engines for fiscal year 2017. As is typical in our industry, our engine suppliers are marinizers of engines that they procure from larger engine block manufacturers, such as General Motors Corporation.

As a further step in our vertical integration strategy, we entered into an engine supply agreement with General Motors LLC (“General Motors”) in November 2016 for the supply of engines to us for use in our Malibu and Axis brand boats beginning as early as model year 2019 through model year 2023. We will be solely responsible for integrating the engines for marine use. We intend to continue to purchase engines from our two current suppliers for at least model years 2017 and 2018. We adopted this strategy in order to more directly control product path (design, innovation, calibration and integration) of our largest dollar procured part, to differentiate our product from our competitors, and to increase our ability to respond to ongoing changes in the marketplace.

Pursuant to the engine supply agreement, we will submit purchase orders for engines to General Motors and, so long as we are not in breach of the engine supply agreement, General Motors will deliver engines pursuant to the purchase orders. No minimum amount of engines is required to be ordered by us and the parties must discuss any potential capacity increases above 7,000 engines annually.

The engine supply agreement will expire on November 14, 2023, unless terminated earlier by either party as permitted under the terms of the agreement. General Motors may terminate the engine supply agreement due to market conditions with at least eighteen (18) months’ advanced written notice. Either party may terminate the agreement as a result of a change of control of Malibu Boats, Inc., as defined in the agreement, with at least eighteen (18) months’ advanced written notice. Either party may also terminate the engine supply agreement due to breach of the other party upon written notice and after providing 60 days to cure any breach. General Motors may also suspend engine deliveries to Malibu Boats in the event of a force majeure, as defined in the engine supply agreement.

General Motors will provide up to a one-year warranty on the engines supplied to us and we have agreed to indemnify General Motors for claims and costs arising from or relating to the engines resulting from our actions.

Insurance and Product Warranties

We carry various insurance policies, including policies to cover general products liability, workers’ compensation and other casualty and property risks, to protect against certain risks of loss consistent with the exposures associated with the nature and scope of our operations. Our policies are generally based on our safety record as well as market trends in the insurance industry and are subject to certain deductibles, limits and policy terms and conditions.

Effective for model year 2016, we began providing a limited warranty for a period up to five years for both Malibu and Axis brand boats. For model years prior to 2016, we provided a limited warranty for a period of up to three years for our Malibu brand boats and two years for our Axis boats. During the warranty period, we reimburse dealers and Malibu Boats

authorized service facilities for all or a portion of the cost of repair or replacement performed on the products (mainly composed of parts or accessories provided by us and labor costs incurred by dealers or Malibu Boats authorized service facilities). Some materials, components or parts of the boat that are not covered by our limited product warranties are separately warranted by their manufacturers or suppliers. These other warranties include warranties covering engines and other components. For Cobalt boats, we provide a structural warranty of up to ten years which covers hull/deck joints, bulkheads, floor, transom, stringers, and motor mount. In addition, we provide a five year bow-to-stern warranty on all components manufactured or purchased (excluding hull and deck structural components), including canvas and upholstery. Gelcoat is covered up to three years. Like our Malibu and Axis brands, some materials, components or parts of the boat that are not covered by our limited product warranties are separately warranted by their manufacturers or suppliers. These other warranties include warranties covering engines and other components.

Intellectual Property

We rely on a combination of patent, trademark and copyright protection, trade secret laws, confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our rights in our brand, products and proprietary technology. This is an important part of our business and we intend to continue protecting our intellectual property. We currently hold 23 U.S. patents, four Australian patents, one Canadian patent, and five pending U.S. patent applications.

We own 32 registered trademarks in various countries around the world. Such trademarks may endure in perpetuity on a country-by-country basis, provided that we comply with all statutory maintenance requirements, including continued use of each trademark in each such country. We currently do not own any registered copyrights.

Competition

The recreational powerboat industry, including the performance sport boat, sterndrive and outboard categories, is highly competitive for consumers and dealers. Competition affects our ability to succeed in the markets we currently serve and new markets that we may enter in the future. We compete with several large manufacturers that may have greater financial, marketing and other resources than we do. We compete with large manufacturers who are represented by dealers in the markets in which we now operate and into which we plan to expand. We also compete with a wide variety of small, independent manufacturers. Competition in our industry is based primarily on brand name, price and product performance. For more information, see Item 1A. “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—Our industry is characterized by intense competition, which affects our sales and profits.”

Environmental, Safety and Regulatory Matters

Our operations and products are subject to extensive environmental, health and safety regulation under various federal, commonwealth, state, and local statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations in the United States and Australia where we manufacture our boats, and in other foreign jurisdictions where we sell our products. We believe we are in material compliance with those requirements. However, we cannot be certain that costs and expenses required for us to comply with such requirements in the future, including for any new or modified regulatory requirements, or to address newly discovered environmental conditions, will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results, or cash flow. The regulatory programs to which we are subject include the following:

Hazardous Materials and Waste

Certain materials used in our manufacturing, including the resins used in production of our boats, are toxic, flammable, corrosive or reactive and are classified as hazardous materials by the national, state and local governments in those jurisdictions where we manufacture our products. The handling, storage, release, treatment and recycling or disposal of these substances and wastes from our operations are regulated in the United States by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“USEPA”), and state and local environmental agencies. The handling, storage, release, treatment and recycling or disposal of these substances and wastes from our operations are regulated in Australia by the Australian Department of Environment and Energy, the New South Wales EPA and other state and local authorities. Failure by us to properly handle, store, release, treat, recycle or dispose of our hazardous materials and wastes could result in liability for us, including fines, penalties, or obligations to investigate and remediate any contamination originating from our operations or facilities. We are not aware of any material contamination at our current or former facilities for which we could be liable under environmental laws or regulations, and we currently are not undertaking any remediation or investigation activities in connection with any contamination. Future spills or accidents or the discovery of currently unknown conditions or non-compliance could, however, could give rise to investigation and remediation obligations or related liabilities.

Air Quality

In the United States, the federal Clean Air Act (“CAA”) and corresponding state and local laws and rules regulate emissions of air pollutants. Because our manufacturing operations involve molding and coating of fiberglass materials, which involves the emission of certain volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, and particulate matter, we are required to maintain and comply with a CAA operating permit (Title V permit) for our Tennessee facility and local air permits for our California facilities. Our air permits generally require us to monitor our emissions and periodically certify that our emissions are within specified limits. To date, we have not had material difficulty complying with those limits.

The USEPA and the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) have adopted regulations stipulating that many marine propulsion engines and watercraft meet certain air emission standards. Some of these standards require fitting a catalytic converter to the engine. These regulations also require, among other things, that engine manufacturers provide a warranty that their engines meet USEPA and CARB emission standards. The engines used in our products are subject to these regulations. CARB also recently adopted an evaporative emissions regulation that applies to all MY 2018 spark-ignition marine watercraft with permanently installed fuel tanks sold in California. The new regulation requires subject boat manufacturers to use specific CARB-certified components for the fuel systems in their boats, or to certify the boat meets a related performance standard. The USEPA and CARB emissions regulations have increased the cost to manufacture our products.

OSHA

In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) standards limit the amount of emissions to which an employee may be exposed without the need for respiratory protection or upgraded plant ventilation. Our facilities are regularly inspected by OSHA and by state and local inspection agencies and departments. We believe that our facilities comply in all material aspects with these regulations. Although capital expenditures related to compliance with environmental laws are expected to increase, we do not currently anticipate any material expenditure will be required to continue to comply with existing OSHA environmental or safety regulations in connection with our existing manufacturing facilities.

At our New South Wales, Australia (“NSW”) facility, employee health and safety is regulated by SafeWork NSW, which also has requirements that limit the amount of certain emissions to which an employee may be exposed without the need for respiratory protection or upgraded plant ventilation. In addition, SafeWork NSW provides licensing and registration for potentially dangerous work, investigates workplace incidents, and enforces work health and safety laws in NSW. Our NSW facilities are regularly inspected by SafeWork NSW. We believe that our facilities comply in all material aspects with these requirements.

Boat Design and Manufacturing Standards

Powerboats sold in the United States must be manufactured to meet the standards of certification required by the United States Coast Guard. In addition, boats manufactured for sale in the European Community must be certified to meet the European Community’s imported manufactured products standards. These certifications specify standards for the design and construction of powerboats. We believe that all of our boats meet these standards. In addition, safety of recreational boats in the United States is subject to federal regulation under the Boat Safety Act of 1971, which requires boat manufacturers to recall products for replacement of parts or components that have demonstrated defects affecting safety. We have instituted recalls for defective component parts produced by certain of our third-party suppliers. None of the recalls has had a material adverse effect on our Company.

Employees

As of July 31, 2017, we employed 1,244 people, 492 of whom work at our facilities in Tennessee, 640 of whom work at our Cobalt facilities in Kansas, 43 of whom work at our California site, 64 of whom work at our Australia facility and five who work remotely. As of July 31, 2017, approximately 13.5% of our employees were salaried and 86.5% were hourly workers. As of June 30, 2017 and 2016, we had 586 and 540 employees, respectively. We believe we maintain excellent relations with our employees.

Organizational Structure

Malibu Boats, Inc. was incorporated as a Delaware corporation on November 1, 2013 in anticipation of our IPO to serve as a holding company that owns only an interest in Malibu Boats Holdings, LLC. Immediately after the completion of our IPO and the recapitalization we completed in connection with our IPO, Malibu Boats, Inc. held approximately 49.3% of the economic interest in the LLC, which has since increased to approximately 93.4% of the economic interest in the LLC as of June 30, 2017.

The certificate of incorporation of Malibu Boats, Inc. authorizes two classes of common stock, Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock. Holders of our Class A Common Stock and our Class B Common Stock have voting power over

Malibu Boats, Inc., the sole managing member of the LLC, at a level that is consistent with their overall equity ownership of our business. In connection with our IPO and the recapitalization we completed in connection with our IPO, Malibu Boats, Inc. issued to each pre-IPO owner, for nominal consideration, one share of Class B Common Stock of Malibu Boats, Inc., each of which provides its owner with no economic rights but entitles the holder to one vote on matters presented to stockholders of Malibu Boats, Inc. for each LLC Unit held by such holder. Pursuant to our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, each share of Class A Common Stock entitles the holder to one vote with respect to each matter presented to our stockholders on which the holders of Class A Common Stock are entitled to vote. Each holder of Class B Common Stock is entitled to the number of votes equal to the total number of LLC units held by such holder multiplied by the exchange rate specified in the exchange agreement with respect to each matter presented to our stockholders on which the holders of Class B Common Stock are entitled to vote. Accordingly, the holders of LLC Units collectively have a number of votes that is equal to the aggregate number of LLC Units that they hold. As the LLC members sell LLC Units to us or subsequently exchange LLC Units for shares of Class A Common Stock of Malibu Boats, Inc. pursuant to the exchange agreement described below, the voting power afforded to them by their shares of Class B Common Stock is automatically and correspondingly reduced. Subject to any rights that may be applicable to any then outstanding preferred stock, our Class A and Class B Common Stock vote as a single class on all matters presented to our stockholders for their vote or approval, except as otherwise provided in our certificate of incorporation or bylaws or required by applicable law. In addition, subject to preferences that may apply to any shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of our Class A Common Stock are entitled to share equally, identically and ratably in any dividends or distributions (including in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs) that our board of directors may determine to issue from time to time, while holders of our Class B Common Stock do not have any right to receive dividends or other distributions.

As noted above, Malibu Boats, Inc. is a holding company with a controlling equity interest in the LLC. Malibu Boats, Inc., as sole managing member of the LLC, operates and controls all of the business and affairs and consolidates the financial results of the LLC. The limited liability company agreement of the LLC provides that it may be amended, supplemented, waived or modified by the written consent of Malibu Boats, Inc., as managing member of the LLC, in its sole discretion without the approval of any other holder of LLC Units, except that no amendment may materially and adversely affect the rights of a holder of LLC Units, other than on a pro rata basis with other holders of LLC Units, without the consent of such holder (unless more than one holder is so affected, then the consent of a majority of such affected holders is required). Pursuant to the limited liability company agreement of the LLC, Malibu Boats, Inc. has the right to determine when distributions (other than tax distributions) will be made to the members of the LLC and the amount of any such distributions. If Malibu Boats, Inc. authorizes a distribution, such distribution will be made to the members of the LLC (including Malibu Boats, Inc.) pro rata in accordance with the percentages of their respective LLC Units.

The diagram below depicts our current organizational structure, as of June 30, 2017:

Our organizational structure allows the LLC members to retain their equity ownership in the LLC, an entity that is classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in the form of LLC Units. Holders of Class A Common Stock, by contrast, hold their equity ownership in Malibu Boats, Inc., a Delaware corporation that is a domestic corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in the form of shares of Class A Common Stock. The holders of LLC Units, including Malibu Boats, Inc., will incur U.S. federal, state and local income taxes on their proportionate share of any taxable income of the LLC. Net profits and net losses of the LLC will generally be allocated to the LLC’s members (including Malibu Boats, Inc.) pro rata in accordance with the percentages of their respective limited liability company interests. The limited liability company agreement provides for cash distributions to the holders of LLC Units if Malibu Boats, Inc. determines that the taxable income of the LLC will give rise to taxable income for its members. In accordance with the limited liability company agreement, we intend to cause the LLC to make cash distributions to the holders of LLC Units for purposes of funding their tax obligations in respect of the income of the LLC that is allocated to them. Generally, these tax distributions will be computed based on our estimate of the taxable income of the LLC allocable to such holder of LLC Units multiplied by an assumed tax rate equal to the highest effective marginal combined U.S. federal, state and local income tax rate prescribed for an individual or corporate resident in Los Angeles, California (taking into account the nondeductibility of certain expenses and the character of our income). For purposes of determining the taxable income of the LLC, such determination will be made by generally disregarding any adjustment to the taxable income of any member of the LLC that arises under the tax basis adjustment rules of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code and is attributable to the acquisition by such member of an interest in the LLC in a sale or exchange transaction.

Exchanges and Other Transactions with Holders of LLC Units

In connection with our IPO and the recapitalization we completed in connection with our IPO, we entered into an exchange agreement with the pre-IPO owners of the LLC under which (subject to the terms of the exchange agreement) each pre-IPO owner (or its permitted transferee) has the right to exchange its LLC Units for shares of our Class A Common Stock on a one-

for-one basis, subject to customary conversion rate adjustments for stock splits, stock dividends and reclassifications, or, at our option, except in the event of a change in control, for a cash payment equal to the market value of the Class A Common Stock. The exchange agreement provides, however, that such exchanges must be for a minimum of the lesser of 1,000 LLC Units, all of the LLC Units held by the holder, or such amount as we determine to be acceptable. The exchange agreement also provides that an LLC member will not have the right to exchange LLC Units if Malibu Boats, Inc. determines that such exchange would be prohibited by law or regulation or would violate other agreements with Malibu Boats, Inc. to which the LLC member may be subject or any of our written policies related to unlawful or insider trading. The exchange agreement also provides that Malibu Boats, Inc. may impose additional restrictions on exchanges that it determines to be necessary or advisable so that the LLC is not treated as a “publicly traded partnership” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In addition, pursuant to the limited liability company agreement of the LLC, Malibu Boats, Inc., as managing member of the LLC, has the right to require all members of the LLC to exchange their LLC Units for Class A Common Stock in accordance with the terms of the exchange agreement, subject to the consent of the holders of a majority of outstanding LLC Units other than those held by Malibu Boats, Inc.

As a result of exchanges of LLC Units into Class A Common Stock and purchases by Malibu Boats, Inc. of LLC Units from holders of LLC Units, Malibu Boats, Inc. will become entitled to a proportionate share of the existing tax basis of the assets of the LLC at the time of such exchanges or purchases. In addition, such exchanges and purchases of LLC Units are expected to result in increases in the tax basis of the assets of the LLC that otherwise would not have been available. These increases in tax basis may reduce the amount of tax that Malibu Boats, Inc. would otherwise be required to pay in the future. These increases in tax basis may also decrease gains (or increase losses) on future dispositions of certain capital assets to the extent tax basis is allocated to those capital assets. We have entered into a tax receivable agreement with the pre-IPO owners (or their permitted assignees) that provides for the payment by Malibu Boats, Inc. to the pre-IPO owners (or their permitted assignees) of 85% of the amount of the benefits, if any, that Malibu Boats, Inc. is deemed to realize as a result of (1) increases in tax basis and (2) certain other tax benefits related to our entering into the tax receivable agreement, including tax benefits attributable to payments under the tax receivable agreement. These payment obligations are obligations of Malibu Boats, Inc. and not of the LLC.

Available Information

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act are available on our web site at www.malibuboats.com, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after the electronic filing of these reports with, or furnishing of these reports to, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. Any materials we file with the SEC are available at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. Additional information about the operation of the Public Reference Room can also be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. In addition, the SEC maintains a web site at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC, including us.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

The following describes the risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those presented in our forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face but do represent those risks and uncertainties that we believe are material to us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also harm our business.

Risks Related to Our Business

General economic conditions, particularly in the United States, affect our industry, demand for our products, and our business and results of operations.

Demand for new recreational powerboats has been significantly influenced in the recent past by weak economic conditions, low consumer confidence and high unemployment and increased market volatility worldwide, especially in the United States. In times of economic uncertainty and contraction, consumers tend to have less discretionary income and defer or avoid expenditures for discretionary items, such as our products. Sales of our products are highly sensitive to personal discretionary spending levels, and our success depends on general economic conditions and overall consumer confidence and personal income levels. Any deterioration in general economic conditions that diminishes consumer confidence or discretionary income may reduce our sales and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We cannot predict the duration or strength of an economic recovery, either in the United States or in the specific markets where we sell our products.

Consumers often finance purchases of our products and accordingly, consumer credit market conditions also influence demand for our boats. As a result of the U.S. recession in the recent past, there are fewer lenders, tighter underwriting and loan

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approval criteria and greater down payments required than in the past. If credit conditions worsen, and adversely affect the ability of consumers to finance potential purchases at acceptable terms and interest rates, it could result in a decrease in the sales of our products.

Our annual and quarterly financial results are subject to significant fluctuations depending on various factors, many of which are beyond our control.

Our sales and operating results can vary significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year depending on various factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors include, but are not limited to:


•	seasonal consumer demand for our products;


•	discretionary spending habits;


•	changes in pricing in, or the availability of supply in, the used powerboat market;


•	failure to maintain a premium brand image;


•	disruption in the operation of our manufacturing facilities;


•	variations in the timing and volume of our sales;


•	the timing of our expenditures in anticipation of future sales;


•	sales promotions by us and our competitors;


•	changes in competitive and economic conditions generally;


•	consumer preferences and competition for consumers’ leisure time; and


•	changes in the cost or availability of our labor.

As a result, our results of operations may decline quickly and significantly in response to changes in order patterns or rapid decreases in demand for our products. We anticipate that fluctuations in operating results will continue in the future.

In addition to the factors noted above, unfavorable weather conditions may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations, especially during the peak boating season.

Adverse weather conditions in any year in any particular geographic region may adversely affect sales in that region, especially during the peak boating season. Sales of our products are generally stronger just before and during spring and summer, which represent the peak boating months in most of our markets, and favorable weather during these months generally has a positive effect on consumer demand. Conversely, unseasonably cool weather, excessive rainfall, reduced rainfall levels, or drought conditions during these periods may close area boating locations or render boating dangerous or inconvenient, thereby generally reducing consumer demand for our products. Our annual results would be materially and adversely affected if our net sales were to fall below expected seasonal levels during these periods. We may also experience more pronounced seasonal fluctuation in net sales in the future as we continue to expand our businesses. Additionally, to the extent that unfavorable weather conditions are exacerbated by global climate change or otherwise, our sales may be affected to a greater degree than we have previously experienced. There can be no assurance that weather conditions will not have a material effect on the sales of any of our products.

We depend on our network of independent dealers, face increasing competition for dealers and have little control over their activities.

Substantially all of our sales are derived from our network of independent dealers. We have agreements with the dealers in our network that typically provide for one-year terms, although some agreements have a term of up to three years. For fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015, our top ten dealers for Malibu and Axis brands accounted for 40.6%, 31.9% and 33.7%, respectively, of our total units sold. For Cobalt's fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015, Cobalt's top ten dealers account for 41.8%, 39.2% and 35.4%, respectively, of Cobalt's total units sold. The loss of a significant number of these dealers could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. The number of dealers supporting our products and the quality of their marketing and servicing efforts are essential to our ability to generate sales. Competition for dealers among recreational powerboat manufacturers continues to increase based on the quality, price, value and availability of the manufacturers' products, the manufacturers' attention to customer service and the marketing support that the manufacturer provides to the dealers. We face intense competition from other recreational powerboat manufacturers in attracting and

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retaining dealers, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to attract or retain relationships with qualified and successful dealers. We cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain or improve our relationship with our dealers or our market share position. In addition, independent dealers in the recreational powerboat industry have experienced significant consolidation in recent years, which could result in the loss of one or more of our dealers in the future if the surviving entity in any such consolidation purchases similar products from a competitor. A substantial deterioration in the number of dealers or quality of our network of dealers, including our network of Cobalt dealers, would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our success depends, in part, upon the financial health of our dealers and their continued access to financing.

Because we sell nearly all of our products through dealers, the financial health of our dealers, including our dealers of Cobalt products, is critical to our success. Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected if the financial health of the dealers that sell our products suffers. Their financial health may suffer for a variety of reasons, including a downturn in general economic conditions, rising interest rates, higher rents, increased labor costs and taxes, compliance with regulations and personal financial issues.

In addition, our dealers require adequate liquidity to finance their operations, including purchases of our products. Dealers are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could unfavorably affect their liquidity positions, including, among other things, continued access to adequate financing sources on a timely basis on reasonable terms. These sources of financing are vital to our ability to sell products through our distribution network. Access to floor plan financing generally facilitates our dealers’ ability to purchase boats from us, and their financed purchases reduce our working capital requirements. If floor plan financing were not available to our dealers, our sales and our working capital levels would be adversely affected. The availability and terms of financing offered by our dealers’ floor plan financing providers will continue to be influenced by:


•	their ability to access certain capital markets and to fund their operations in a cost-effective manner;


•	the performance of their overall credit portfolios;


•	their willingness to accept the risks associated with lending to dealers; and


•	the overall creditworthiness of those dealers.

We may be required to repurchase inventory of certain dealers.

Many of our dealers have floor plan financing arrangements with third-party finance companies that enable the dealers to purchase our products. In connection with these agreements, we may have an obligation to repurchase our products from a finance company under certain circumstances, and we may not have any control over the timing or amount of any repurchase obligation nor have access to capital on terms acceptable to us to satisfy any repurchase obligation. This obligation is triggered if a dealer defaults on its debt obligations to a finance company, the finance company repossesses the boat and the boat is returned to us. Our obligation to repurchase a repossessed boat for the unpaid balance of our original invoice price for the boat is subject to reduction or limitation based on the age and condition of the boat at the time of repurchase, and in certain cases by an aggregate cap on repurchase obligations associated with a particular floor plan financing program. For fiscal year 2016, we agreed to repurchase three units from the lender of two of our former dealers resulting in combined losses of $0.03 million. Other than these repurchase commitments, we have not repurchased any units from lenders since July 1, 2010. There is no assurance that a dealer will not default on the terms of a credit line in the future. In addition, applicable laws regulating dealer relations may also require us to repurchase our products from our dealers under certain circumstances, and we may not have any control over the timing or amount of any repurchase obligation nor have access to capital on terms acceptable to us to satisfy any repurchase obligation. If we were obligated to repurchase a significant number of units under any repurchase agreement or under applicable dealer laws, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected.

If we fail to manage our manufacturing levels while still addressing the seasonal retail pattern for our products, our business and margins may suffer.

The seasonality of retail demand for our products, together with our goal of balancing production throughout the year, requires us to manage our manufacturing and allocate our products to our dealer network to address anticipated retail demand. Our dealers must manage seasonal changes in consumer demand and inventory. If our dealers reduce their inventories in response to weakness in retail demand, we could be required to reduce our production, resulting in lower rates of absorption of fixed costs in our manufacturing and, therefore, lower margins. As a result, we must balance the economies of level production with the seasonal retail sales pattern experienced by our dealers. Failure to adjust manufacturing levels adequately may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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We have a large fixed cost base that will affect our profitability if our sales decrease.

The fixed cost levels of operating a recreational powerboat manufacturer can put pressure on profit margins when sales and production decline. Our profitability depends, in part, on our ability to spread fixed costs over a sufficiently large number of products sold and shipped, and if we make a decision to reduce our rate of production, gross or net margins could be negatively affected. Consequently, decreased demand or the need to reduce production can lower our ability to absorb fixed costs and materially impact our financial condition or results of operations.

Our industry is characterized by intense competition, which affects our sales and profits.

The recreational powerboat industry, and in particular the performance sport boat category, is highly competitive for consumers and dealers. We also compete against consumer demand for used boats. Competition affects our ability to succeed in both the markets we currently serve and new markets that we may enter in the future. Competition is based primarily on brand name, price, product selection and product performance. We compete with several large manufacturers that may have greater financial, marketing and other resources than we do and who are represented by dealers in the markets in which we now operate and into which we plan to expand. We also compete with a variety of small, independent manufacturers. We cannot assure you that we will not face greater competition from existing large or small manufacturers or that we will be able to compete successfully with new competitors. Our failure to compete effectively with our current and future competitors would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our sales may be adversely impacted by increased consumer preference for used boats or the supply of new boats by competitors in excess of demand.

During the recent economic downturn that commenced in 2008, we observed a shift in consumer demand toward purchasing more used boats, primarily because prices for used boats are typically lower than retail prices for new boats. If this were to occur again, it could have the effect of reducing demand among retail purchasers for our new boats. Also, while we have taken steps designed to balance production volumes for our boats with demand, our competitors could choose to reduce the price of their products, which could have the effect of reducing demand for our new boats. Reduced demand for new boats could lead to reduced sales by us, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Our sales and profitability depend, in part, on the successful introduction of new products.

Market acceptance of our products depends on our technological innovation and our ability to implement technology in our boats. Our sales and profitability may be adversely affected by difficulties or delays in product development, such as an inability to develop viable or innovative new products. Our failure to introduce new technologies and product offerings that our markets desire could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, we believe we have been able to achieve higher margins in part as a result of the introduction of new features or enhancements to our existing boat models. If we fail to introduce new features or those we introduce fail to gain market acceptance, our margins may suffer.

In addition, some of our direct competitors and indirect competitors may have significantly more resources to develop and patent new technologies. It is possible that our competitors will develop and patent equivalent or superior technologies and other products that compete with ours. They may assert these patents against us and we may be required to license these patents on unfavorable terms or cease using the technology covered by these patents, either of which would harm our competitive position and may materially adversely affect our business.

We also cannot be certain that our products or technologies have not infringed or will not infringe the proprietary rights of others. Any such infringement could cause third parties, including our competitors, to bring claims against us, resulting in significant costs and potential damages.

We compete with a variety of other activities for consumers’ scarce leisure time.

Our boats are used for recreational and sport purposes, and demand for our boats may be adversely affected by competition from other activities that occupy consumers’ leisure time and by changes in consumer life style, usage pattern or taste. Similarly, an overall decrease in consumer leisure time may reduce consumers’ willingness to purchase and enjoy our products.

Our success depends upon the continued strength of our brands — Malibu, Axis, and Cobalt — and the value of our brands and sales of our products could be diminished if we, the athletes who use our products or the sports and activities in which our products are used, are associated with negative publicity.

We believe that our brands —, Malibu, Axis, and Cobalt — are significant contributors to the success of our business and that maintaining and enhancing our brands are important to expanding our consumer and dealer base. Failure to continue to protect our brands may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Negative publicity, including that resulting from severe injuries or death occurring in the sports and activities in which our products are used, could negatively affect our reputation and result in restrictions, recalls or bans on the use of our products. Further, actions taken by athletes associated with our products that harm the reputations of those athletes could also harm our brand image and adversely affect our financial condition. If the popularity of the sports and activities for which we design, manufacture and sell products were to decrease as a result of these risks or any negative publicity, sales of our products could decrease, which could have an adverse effect on our net revenue, profitability and operating results. In addition, if we become exposed to additional claims and litigation relating to the use of our products, our reputation may be adversely affected by such claims, whether or not successful, including by generating potential negative publicity about our products, which could adversely impact our business and financial condition.

We may not be able to execute our manufacturing strategy successfully, which could cause the profitability of our products to suffer.

Our manufacturing strategy is designed to improve product quality and increase productivity, while reducing costs and increasing flexibility to respond to ongoing changes in the marketplace. To implement this strategy, we must be successful in our continuous improvement efforts, which depend on the involvement of management, production employees and suppliers. In addition, we began manufacturing our own trailers for model year 2016 and have entered into an engine supply agreement with General Motors LLC for the development of our own engines. Because the integration of our trailer manufacturing is relatively new to us, we must continue to seek ways to improve our trailer production. Further, our vertical integration strategy for our engines may not be successful. Any inability to achieve these objectives could adversely impact the profitability of our products and our ability to deliver desirable products to our consumers.

Our engine integration strategy will require significant cash expenditures and we may not be able to execute our strategy successfully, which could cause our profitability to suffer.

In November, 2016, we entered an engine supply agreement with General Motors LLC for the supply of engines to us for use in our Malibu and Axis brand performance sports boats beginning as early as model year 2019 through model year 2023. Unlike our current strategy that purchases engines prepared for marine use, we will be solely responsible for integrating the engines purchased from General Motors for marine use. We adopted this strategy in order to more directly control product path (design, innovation, calibration and integration) of our largest dollar procured part, to differentiate our product from our competitors, and to increase our ability to respond to ongoing changes in the marketplace.

This strategy will require significant additional capital. We purchased an additional facility adjacent to our current manufacturing facility for the production of our engines. We expect a total investment through expenditures, working capital, and capital expenses of approximately $18.0 million for the three years after entering the engine supply agreement, which we intend to finance with cash from operations and our revolving credit facility. In addition, this strategy will increase the fixed costs of our operations. And, because the integration of engines into our manufacturing process is new to us, we must be successful in continuous improvement efforts, which depend on the involvement of management, production employees and suppliers. If we are not successful in our engine integration strategy, it could adversely impact the profitability of our products and our ability to deliver desirable products to our consumers.

As a result of our engine integration strategy, we will rely solely on General Motors for the supply of our engines, which we will then integrate for marine use.

The availability and cost of engines used in the manufacture of our boats are critical. For fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015, we purchased approximately 64%, 60% and 62%, respectively, of the engines for our boats from a single supplier. These engines were prepared for marine use as purchased. Starting as soon as model year 2019, we will begin purchasing engines solely from General Motors LLC and we will prepare the engines for marine use. If we are required to replace General Motors for any reason, it could cause a decrease in products available for sale or an increase in our cost of sales, either of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our ability to meet our manufacturing workforce needs is crucial to our results of operations and future sales and profitability.

We rely on the existence of an available hourly workforce to manufacture our boats. We cannot assure you that we will be able to attract and retain qualified employees to meet current or future manufacturing needs at a reasonable cost, or at all. Although none of our employees is currently covered by collective bargaining agreements, we cannot assure you that our employees will not elect to be represented by labor unions in the future. Additionally, competition for qualified employees could require us to pay higher wages to attract a sufficient number of employees. Significant increases in manufacturing workforce costs could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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We rely on third-party suppliers and may be unable to obtain adequate raw materials and components.

We depend on third-party suppliers to provide components and raw materials essential to the construction of our boats. Historically, we have not entered into long-term agreements with our suppliers, but have developed 90-day forecast models with our major suppliers to minimize disruptions in our supply chain. While we believe that our relationships with our current suppliers are sufficient to provide the materials necessary to meet present production demand, we cannot assure you that these relationships will continue or that the quantity or quality of materials available from these suppliers will be sufficient to meet our future needs, irrespective of whether we successfully implement our growth strategy. In particular, the availability and cost of engines used in the manufacture of our boats are critical. For fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015 we purchased approximately 64%, 60% and 62%, respectively, of the engines for our boats from a single supplier. Even with our engine integration strategy, we intend to continue to purchase engines from our two current suppliers for at least model years 2017 and 2018. If we are required to replace these suppliers or the supplier of any other key components or raw materials, it could cause a decrease in products available for sale or an increase in the cost of sales, either of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations even as our engines development initiative continues.

Termination or interruption of informal supply arrangements could have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

We have informal supply arrangements with many of our suppliers. In the event of a termination of the

supply arrangement, there can be no assurance that alternate supply arrangements will be made on satisfactory terms.

If we need to enter into supply arrangements on unsatisfactory terms, or if there are any delays to our supply

arrangements, it could adversely affect our business and operating results.

Product liability, warranty, personal injury, property damage and recall claims may materially affect our financial condition and damage our reputation.

We are engaged in a business that exposes us to claims for product liability and warranty claims in the event our products actually or allegedly fail to perform as expected or the use of our products results, or is alleged to result, in property damage, personal injury or death. In the past, we have provided limited product warranties, generally covering periods from 12 to 36 months for Malibu brand boats and 12 to 24 months for Axis brand boats. Effective July 1, 2015, we began providing a limited warranty for a period up to five years to our consumers for both our Malibu and Axis brand boats manufactured after this point in time. We expect the extension of our warranty coverage period to increase our obligations to cover warranty claims over time resulting in an increase in our reserve to cover these warranty claims.

For Cobalt boats, we provide limited warranty for a period of up to ten years on structural components such as hull/deck joints, bulkheads, floor, transom, stringers, and motor mount, and up to five year on manufactured or purchased components, including canvas and upholstery. Gelcoat is covered up to three years.

Our standard warranties require us or our dealers to repair or replace defective products during such warranty periods at no cost to the consumer. Although we maintain product and general liability insurance of the types and in the amounts that we believe are customary for the industry, we are not fully insured against all such potential claims. We may experience legal claims in excess of our insurance coverage or claims that are not covered by insurance, either of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Adverse determination of material product liability and warranty claims made against us could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and harm our reputation. In addition, if any of our products are, or are alleged to be, defective, we may be required to participate in a recall of that product if the defect or alleged defect relates to safety. These and other claims we face could be costly to us and require substantial management attention.

We depend upon key personnel and we may not be able to retain them or to attract, assimilate and retain highly qualified employees in the future.

Our future success will depend in significant part upon the continued service of our senior management team and our continuing ability to attract, assimilate and retain highly qualified and skilled managerial, product development, manufacturing, marketing and other personnel. The loss of the services of any members of our senior management or other key personnel or the inability to hire or retained qualified personnel in the future could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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We may attempt to grow our business through acquisitions or strategic alliances and new partnerships, such as our acquisitions of Cobalt and our Australia licensee, which we may not be successful in completing or integrating.

We may in the future explore acquisitions and strategic alliances, similar to our acquisitions of Cobalt in July 2017 and our Australian licensee in fiscal year 2015, that will enable us to acquire complementary skills and capabilities, offer new products, expand our consumer base, enter new product categories or geographic markets and obtain other competitive advantages. We cannot assure you, however, that we will identify acquisition candidates or strategic partners that are suitable to our business, obtain financing on satisfactory terms, complete acquisitions or strategic alliances or successfully integrate acquired operations into our existing operations. Once integrated, acquired operations may not achieve anticipated levels of sales or profitability, or otherwise perform as expected. Acquisitions also involve special risks, including risks associated with unanticipated challenges, liabilities and contingencies, and diversion of management attention and resources from our existing operations.

Our results after the acquisition of Cobalt may suffer if we do not effectively manage our expanded operations following the acquisition.

The size of our business has increased significantly as a result of our acquisition of Cobalt in July 2017. Our future success depends, in part, upon our ability to manage this expanded business, which will pose substantial challenges for management, including challenges related to the management and monitoring of additional operations and associated increased costs and complexity. There can be no assurances we will be successful or that we will realize the expected benefits currently anticipated from the acquisition of Cobalt.

We have and will continue to incur significant acquisition-related integration costs in connection with the acquisition of Cobalt and significant transaction expenses in connection with the negotiation and consummation of the acquisition of Cobalt and the related financing transactions.

We are currently implementing a plan to integrate the operations of Cobalt. In connection with that plan, we anticipate that we will incur certain non-recurring charges in connection with the integration of Cobalt; however, we cannot currently identify the timing, nature and amount of all such charges. Further, we have incurred significant transaction costs relating to negotiating and completing the acquisition of Cobalt. These integration costs and transaction expenses will be charged as an expense in the period incurred. The significant transaction costs and integration costs could materially affect our results of operations in the period in which such charges are recorded. Although we believe that the elimination of duplicative costs, as well as the realization of other efficiencies related to the integration of the business, will offset incremental transaction and integration costs over time, this net benefit may not be achieved in the near term, or at all.

The Cobalt business may underperform relative to our expectations.

We may not be able to maintain the levels of revenue, earnings or operating efficiency that we and Cobalt have achieved or might achieve separately. The business and financial performance of Cobalt are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including the risk of the loss of, or changes to, its relationships with its dealers and suppliers, increased product liability and warranty claims, and negative publicity or other events that could diminish the value of the Cobalt brand. We may be unable to achieve the same growth, revenues and profitability that Cobalt has achieved in the past.

The pro forma financial information we filed on our Amendment No. 1 to Form 8-K on July 12, 2017 may not be indicative of our future results with Cobalt.

The pro forma financial information we filed on our Amendment No.1 to Form 8-K on July 12, 2017 may not reflect what our results of operations, financial position and cash flows would have been after giving effect to the acquisition of Cobalt and the related financing during the periods presented or be indicative of what our results of operations, financial position and cash flows may be in the future. We have made adjustments based upon available information and made assumptions that we believe are reasonable to reflect these factors, among others, in the pro forma financial information. However, our assumptions may not prove to be accurate and, accordingly, the pro forma information may not be indicative of what our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition actually would have been after giving effect to the acquisition of Cobalt and the related financing nor be a reliable indicator of what our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition actually may be in the future.

Our growth strategy may require us to secure significant additional capital, the amount of which will depend upon the size, timing, and structure of future acquisitions or vertical integrations and our working capital and general corporate needs.

Our growth strategy could include acquiring businesses, like our acquisitions of Cobalt in July 2017 and our Australian licensee in fiscal year 2015, and the integration of new product lines or related products to our boats, such as the integration of the manufacturing of our own trailers beginning with model year 2016 and our initiative to integrate the production of our own

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engines as soon as model year 2019. These actions may require us to secure significant additional capital through the borrowing of money or the issuance of equity.

Any borrowings made to finance future strategic initiatives could make us more vulnerable to a downturn in our operating results, a downturn in economic conditions, or increases in interest rates on borrowings that are subject to interest rate fluctuations. If our cash flow from operations is insufficient to meet our debt service requirements, we could then be required to sell additional equity securities, refinance our obligations or dispose of assets in order to meet our debt service requirements. Adequate financing may not be available if and when we need it or may not be available on terms acceptable to us. The failure to obtain sufficient financing on favorable terms and conditions could have a material adverse effect on our growth prospects.

Further, we could choose to finance acquisitions or other strategic initiatives, in whole or in part through the issuance of our Class A Common Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable for our Class A Common Stock. If we do so, existing stockholders will experience dilution in the voting power of their Class A Common Stock and earnings per share could be negatively impacted. The extent to which we will be able and willing to use our Class A Common Stock for acquisitions and other strategic initiatives will depend on the market value of our Class A Common Stock and the willingness of potential third parties to accept our Class A Common Stock as full or partial consideration. Our inability to use our Class A Common Stock as consideration, to generate cash from operations, or to obtain additional funding through debt or equity financings in order to pursue our strategic initiatives could materially limit our growth.

Our reliance upon patents, trademark laws and contractual provisions to protect our proprietary rights may not be sufficient to protect our intellectual property from others who may sell similar products and may lead to costly litigation. We are currently, and may be in the future, party to lawsuits and other intellectual property rights claims that are expensive and time-consuming.

We hold patents and trademarks relating to various aspects of our products and believe that proprietary technical know-how is important to our business. Proprietary rights relating to our products are protected from unauthorized use by third parties only to the extent that they are covered by valid and enforceable patents or trademarks or are maintained in confidence as trade secrets. We cannot be certain that we will be issued any patents from any pending or future patent applications owned by or licensed to us or that the claims allowed under any issued patents will be sufficiently broad to protect our technology. In the absence of enforceable patent or trademark protection, we may be vulnerable to competitors who attempt to copy our products, gain access to our trade secrets and know-how or diminish our brand through unauthorized use of our trademarks, all of which could adversely affect our business. Accordingly, we may need to engage in future litigation to enforce intellectual property rights to protect trade secrets or to determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights of others. For example, in May 2017 we settled two Tennessee lawsuits in which we were previously a plaintiff alleging infringement by a competitor of our patent rights in certain wake surfing technology. For more information, see Note 15 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

We also rely on unpatented proprietary technology. It is possible that others will independently develop the same or similar technology or otherwise obtain access to our unpatented technology. To protect our trade secrets and other proprietary information, we require employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to enter into confidentiality agreements. We cannot assure you that these agreements will provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets, know-how, or other proprietary information in the event of any unauthorized use, misappropriation, or disclosure of such trade secrets, know-how, or other proprietary information. If we are unable to maintain the proprietary nature of our technologies, we could be materially adversely affected.

In addition, others may initiate litigation or other proceedings to challenge the validity of our patents, or allege that we infringe their patents, or they may use their resources to design comparable products that do not infringe our patents. We may incur substantial costs if our competitors initiate litigation to challenge the validity of our patents, or allege that we infringe their patents, or if we initiate any proceedings to protect our proprietary rights. As an example, we entered into a settlement agreement in September 2014 and agreed to pay $20.0 million in cash for settlement of a lawsuit alleging patent infringement and related claims against us in connection with windshields installed in our boats that we purchased from a third party supplier. If the outcome of any litigation challenging our patents is unfavorable to us, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We rely on network and information systems and other technologies for our business activities and certain events, such as computer hackings, viruses or other destructive or disruptive software or activities may disrupt our operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Network and information systems and other technologies are important to our business activities and operations. Network and information systems-related events, such as computer hackings, cyber threats, security breaches, viruses, or other destructive or disruptive software, process breakdowns or malicious or other activities could result in a disruption of our

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services and operations or improper disclosure of personal data or confidential information, which could damage our reputation and require us to expend resources to remedy any such breaches. Moreover, the amount and scope of insurance we maintain against losses resulting from any such events or security breaches may not be sufficient to cover our losses or otherwise adequately compensate us for any disruptions to our businesses that may result, and the occurrence of any such events or security breaches could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. The risk of these systems-related events and security breaches occurring has intensified, in part because we maintain certain information necessary to conduct our businesses in digital form stored on cloud servers. While we develop and maintain systems seeking to prevent systems-related events and security breaches from occurring, the development and maintenance of these systems is costly and requires ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome security measures become more sophisticated. Despite these efforts, there can be no assurance that disruptions and security breaches will not occur in the future. Moreover, we may provide certain confidential, proprietary and personal information to third parties in connection with our businesses, and while we obtain assurances that these third parties will protect this information, there is a risk that this information may be compromised. The occurrence of any of such network or information systems-related events or security breaches could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The nature of our business exposes us to workers' compensation claims and other workplace liabilities.

Certain materials we use require our employees to handle potentially hazardous or toxic substances. While our employees who handle these and other potentially hazardous or toxic materials receive specialized training and wear protective clothing, there is still a risk that they, or others, may be exposed to these substances. Exposure to these substances could result in significant injury to our employees and damage to our property or the property of others, including natural resource damage. Our personnel are also at risk for other workplace-related injuries, including slips and falls. We have in the past been, and may in the future be, subject to fines, penalties, and other liabilities in connection with any such injury or damage. Although we currently maintain what we believe to be suitable and adequate insurance in excess of our self-insured amounts, we may be unable to maintain such insurance on acceptable terms or such insurance may not provide adequate protection against potential liabilities.

Our international markets require significant management attention, expose us to difficulties presented by international economic, political, legal and business factors, and may not be successful or produce desired levels of sales and profitability.

We currently sell our products throughout the world. Our total sales outside North America were less than 10% of our total revenue for fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015. International markets have been, and will continue to be, a focus for sales growth. We believe many opportunities exist in the international markets, and over time we intend for international sales to comprise a larger percentage of our total revenue. Several factors, including weakened international economic conditions, could adversely affect such growth. The expansion of our existing international operations and entry into additional international markets require significant management attention. Some of the countries in which we market and our distributors or licensee sell our products are to some degree subject to political, economic or social instability. Our international operations expose us and our representatives, agents and distributors to risks inherent in operating in foreign jurisdictions. These risks include, but are not limited to:


•	increased costs of customizing products for foreign countries;


•	unfamiliarity with local demographics, consumer preferences and discretionary spending patterns;


•	difficulties in attracting customers due to a reduced level of customer familiarity with our brand;


•	competition with new, unfamiliar competitors;


•	the imposition of additional foreign governmental controls or regulations, including rules relating to environmental, health and safety matters and regulations and other laws applicable to publicly-traded companies, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or the FCPA;


•	new or enhanced trade restrictions and restrictions on the activities of foreign agents, representatives and distributors;


•	the imposition of increases in costly and lengthy import and export licensing and other compliance requirements, customs duties and tariffs, license obligations and other non-tariff barriers to trade;


•	laws and business practices favoring local companies;


•	longer payment cycles and difficulties in enforcing agreements and collecting receivables through certain foreign legal systems; and

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•	difficulties in enforcing or defending intellectual property rights.

Our international operations may not produce desired levels of total sales, or one or more of the foregoing factors may harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Changes in currency exchange rates can adversely affect our results.

A portion of our sales are denominated in a currency other than the U.S. dollar. Consequently, a strong U.S. dollar may adversely affect reported revenues. We also maintain a portion of our manufacturing operations in Australia which partially mitigates the impact of a strengthening U.S. dollar in that country. A portion of our selling, general and administrative costs are transacted in Australian dollars as a result. We also sell U.S. manufactured products into certain international markets in U.S. dollars, including the sale of products into Canada, Europe and Latin America. Demand for our products in these markets may also be adversely affected by a strengthening U.S. dollar. For example, we have experienced decreased demand in Canada due to the weakening Canadian dollar and demand is weak in other areas of the world, notably South America, South Africa and Europe. We do not currently use hedging or other derivative instruments to mitigate our foreign currency risks.

An increase in energy and fuel costs may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Higher energy costs result in increases in operating expenses at our manufacturing facility and in the expense of shipping products to our dealers. In addition, increases in energy costs may adversely affect the pricing and availability of petroleum-based raw materials, such as resins and foams, that are used in our products. Also, higher fuel prices may have an adverse effect on demand for our boats, as they increase the cost of ownership and operation.

We are subject to U.S. and other anti-corruption laws, trade controls, economic sanctions and similar laws and regulations, including those in the jurisdictions where we operate. Our failure to comply with these laws and regulations could subject us to civil, criminal and administrative penalties and harm our reputation.

Doing business on a worldwide basis requires us to comply with the laws and regulations of various foreign jurisdictions. These laws and regulations place restrictions on our operations, trade practices, partners and investment decisions. In particular, our operations are subject to U.S. and foreign anti-corruption and trade control laws and regulations, such as the FCPA, export controls and economic sanctions programs, including those administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or the OFAC. As a result of doing business in foreign countries and with foreign partners, we are exposed to a heightened risk of violating anti-corruption and trade control laws and sanctions regulations.

The FCPA prohibits us from providing anything of value to foreign officials for the purposes of obtaining or retaining business or securing any improper business advantage. It also requires us to keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect our transactions.

Economic sanctions programs restrict our business dealings with certain sanctioned countries, persons and entities. In addition, because we act through dealers and distributors, we face the risk that our dealers, distributors or consumers might further distribute our products to a sanctioned person or entity, or an ultimate end-user in a sanctioned country, which might subject us to an investigation concerning compliance with OFAC or other sanctions regulations.

Violations of anti-corruption and trade control laws and sanctions regulations are punishable by civil penalties, including fines, denial of export privileges, injunctions, asset seizures, debarment from government contracts and revocations or restrictions of licenses, as well as criminal fines and imprisonment. We cannot assure you that all of our local, strategic or joint partners will comply with these laws and regulations, in which case we could be held liable for actions taken inside or outside of the United States, even though our partners may not be subject to these laws. Such a violation could materially and adversely affect our reputation, business, results of operations and financial condition. Our continued international expansion, including in developing countries, and our development of new partnerships and joint venture relationships worldwide, could increase the risk of FCPA or OFAC violations in the future.

If we are unable to comply with environmental and other regulatory requirements, our business may be exposed to material liability or fines.

We are subject to extensive regulation, including product safety, environmental and health and safety requirements under various federal, state, local and foreign statutes, ordinances and regulations. While we believe that we are in material compliance with all applicable federal, state, local and foreign regulatory requirements, we cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to comply with applicable regulatory requirements. Compliance with regulatory requirements could increase the cost of our products, which in turn, may reduce consumer demand, or could materially increase the cost of operations. The failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements could cause us to incur significant fines or penalties, obligations to

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conduct remedial or corrective actions, or, in extreme circumstances, revocation of our permits or injunctions preventing some or all of our operations. In addition, the components of our boats must meet certain regulatory standards, including air emission standards for boat engines and fuel systems. Failure to meet these standards could result in an inability to sell our boats in key markets, which would adversely affect our business. In addition, legal requirements are constantly evolving, and changes in laws, regulations or policies, or changes in interpretations of the foregoing, could also increase our costs or create liabilities where none exists today.

As with boat construction in general, our manufacturing processes involve the use, handling, storage and contracting for recycling or disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. The failure to manage or dispose of such hazardous substances and wastes properly could expose us to material liability or fines, including liability for personal injury or property damage due to exposure to hazardous substances, damages to natural resources, or for the investigation and remediation of environmental conditions. Under certain environmental laws, we may be liable for remediation of contamination at sites where our hazardous wastes have been disposed or at our current or former facilities, regardless of whether such facilities are owned or leased or whether we caused the condition of contamination. Also, the components in our boats may become subject to more stringent environmental regulations. For example, boat engines and other emission producing components may be subject to more stringent emissions standards, which could increase the cost of our engines, components and our products, which, in turn, may reduce consumer demand for our products.

A natural disaster or other disruption at our manufacturing facilities could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We rely on the continuous operation of manufacturing facilities in Tennessee, Kansas, California and Australia. Any natural disaster or other serious disruption to our facilities due to fire, flood, earthquake or any other unforeseen circumstances could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Changes in climate could adversely affect our operations by limiting or increasing the costs associated with equipment or fuel supplies. In addition, adverse weather conditions, such as increased frequency and/or severity of storms, or floods could impair our ability to operate by damaging our facilities and equipment or restricting product delivery to customers. The occurrence of any disruption at our manufacturing facilities, even for a short period of time, may have an adverse effect on our productivity and profitability, during and after the period of the disruption. These disruptions may also cause personal injury and loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of property and equipment and environmental damage. Although we maintain property, casualty and business interruption insurance of the types and in the amounts that we believe are customary for the industry, we are not fully insured against all potential natural disasters or other disruptions to our manufacturing facilities.

Increases in income tax rates or changes in income tax laws or enforcement could have a material adverse impact on our financial results.

Changes in domestic and international tax legislation could expose us to additional tax liability and could impact the amount of our tax receivable agreement liability. Although we monitor changes in tax laws and work to mitigate the impact of proposed changes, such changes may negatively impact our financial results. In addition, any increase in individual income tax rates, such as those implemented in the United States at the beginning of 2013, would negatively affect our potential consumers’ discretionary income and could decrease the demand for our products.

Our credit facilities contain covenants which may limit our operating flexibility; failure to comply with covenants may result in our lenders restricting or terminating our ability to borrow under such credit facilities.

In the past, we have relied upon our existing credit facilities to provide us with adequate liquidity to operate our business. The availability of borrowing amounts under our credit facilities are dependent upon compliance with the debt covenants set forth in our credit agreement. Violation of those covenants, whether as a result of operating losses or otherwise, could result in our lenders restricting or terminating our borrowing ability under our credit facilities. If our lenders reduce or terminate our access to amounts under our credit facilities, we may not have sufficient capital to fund our working capital and other needs and we may need to secure additional capital or financing to fund our operations or to repay outstanding debt under our credit facilities. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in ensuring our availability to amounts under our credit facilities or in connection with raising additional capital and that any amount, if raised, will be sufficient to meet our cash needs or on terms as favorable as have historically been available to us. If we are not able to maintain our borrowing availability under our credit facilities or raise additional capital when needed, our business and operations will be materially and adversely affected.

Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.

Borrowings under our credit facility are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. Interest rates are currently at historically low levels. If interest rates increase, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness will

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increase even though the amount borrowed remains the same, and our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, will correspondingly decrease. We manage our exposure to interest rate movements on our term loan through the use of an interest rate swap agreement on a notional amount of $39.5 million equal to half of our term loan obligation under our previously existing amended and restated credit agreement entered into on April 2, 2015 and recently refinanced on June 28, 2016. We have elected not to designate our interest rate swap as a hedge; therefore, changes in the fair value of the derivative instrument may cause volatility in our interest expense based on fluctuations in interest rates. In the future, we may enter into similar interest rate swaps that involve the exchange of floating for fixed rate interest payments in order to reduce future interest rate volatility on the remaining unhedged portion of our term loan; however, there is no guarantee we may take such action and we may not fully mitigate our interest rate risk. A hypothetical 1% increase in LIBOR over the 1.52% floor could increase our annual interest expense and related cash flows by approximately $0.2 million based on the unhedged portion of the amounts outstanding under our credit facility as of June 30, 2017.

We are an “emerging growth company” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our Class A Common Stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or the JOBS Act. We have taken, and for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take, advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to emerging growth companies, which includes, among other things:


•	exemption from the auditor attestation requirements under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;


•	reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements;


•	exemption from the requirements of holding non-binding stockholder votes on executive compensation arrangements; and


•	exemption from any public rules requiring mandatory audit firm rotation and auditor discussion and analysis and, unless the SEC otherwise determines, any future audit rules that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

We could be an emerging growth company until the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary after our initial public offering (June 30, 2019) or until the earliest of (1) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have annual gross revenue of $1 billion or more, (2) the date on which we have, during the previous three-year period, issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt or (3) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the federal securities laws. We will qualify as a large accelerated filer as of the first day of the first fiscal year after we have more than $700 million in outstanding common equity held by our non-affiliates. The value of our outstanding common equity will be measured each year on the last day of our second fiscal quarter.

Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies are also permitted to elect to delay adoption of new or revised accounting standards until companies that are not subject to periodic reporting obligations are required to comply, if such accounting standards apply to non-reporting companies. We have made an irrevocable decision to opt out of this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards.

We cannot predict if investors will find our Class A Common Stock less attractive if we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our Class A Common Stock less attractive as a result, there may be less active trading market for our Class A Common Stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.

Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires an annual management assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Management is similarly required to review disclosure controls, which are controls established to ensure that information required to be disclosed in SEC reports is recorded, processed, summarized and reported in a timely manner. Additionally, once we are no longer an emerging growth company, as defined by the JOBS Act, our independent registered public accounting firm will be required pursuant to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting on an annual basis.

If we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, as such standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to ensure that we can conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting. The existence of any material weakness could require management to devote significant time and incur significant expense to remediate any such material weakness and management may not be able to remediate any such material

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weakness in a timely manner. The existence of any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting could also result in errors in our financial statements that could require us to restate our financial statements, cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, and cause stockholders to lose confidence in our reported financial information, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business and stock price. In addition, if our independent registered public accounting firm is

unable to provide an unqualified attestation report on our internal controls after we cease to be an emerging growth company, investors could lose confidence in our financial information and the price of our stock could decline.

We incur significant increased costs as a result of being a public company, and our management devotes substantial time to comply with the laws and regulations affecting public companies. We expect our costs to increase after we are no longer an emerging growth company.

We became a public company on January 30, 2014. As a public company, we have incurred significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company, including costs associated with public company reporting and corporate governance requirements, in order to comply with the rules and regulations imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules implemented by the SEC and Nasdaq. We expect these costs to increase after we cease to qualify as an emerging growth company. Our management and other personnel devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives and our legal and accounting compliance costs have increased. It is likely that we will need to hire additional staff in the areas of investor relations, legal and accounting as we continue to operate as a public company. We also believe it is more difficult and expensive for us to obtain director and liability insurance as a public company, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to these rules, and we cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur in the future or the timing of such costs.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. In particular, as a public company, we are required to perform system and process evaluations and testing of our internal control over financial reporting to allow management and our independent registered public accounting firm to report on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. As an emerging growth company, we are not required to comply with the auditor attestation provisions of Section 404. Our testing, or the subsequent testing by our independent registered public accounting firm, may reveal deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses. Our compliance with Section 404 requires that we incur substantial accounting expense and management time on compliance-related issues. Moreover, if we are not able to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner, or if we or our independent registered public accounting firm identify deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could cause our stock price to decline.

When we cease to qualify as an emerging growth company, we expect to incur additional expenses and devote increased management effort toward ensuring compliance with them. We cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur as a result of becoming a public company or the timing of such costs.

Risks Related to Our Organizational Structure

Our only material asset is our interest in the LLC, and we are accordingly dependent upon distributions from the LLC to pay taxes, make payments under the tax receivable agreement or pay dividends.

Malibu Boats, Inc. is a holding company and has no material assets other than our ownership of LLC Units. Malibu Boats, Inc. has no independent means of generating revenue. We intend to cause the LLC to make distributions to its unit holders in an amount sufficient to cover all applicable taxes at assumed tax rates, payments under the tax receivable agreement and dividends, if any, declared by us. To the extent that we need funds, and the LLC is restricted from making such distributions under applicable law or regulation or under the terms of its financing arrangements, or is otherwise unable to provide such funds, it could materially adversely affect our liquidity and financial condition. For example, our credit agreement generally prohibits the LLC, Malibu Boats, LLC and Malibu Domestic International Sales Corp. from paying dividends or making distributions. Our credit facility permits, however, (i) distributions based on a member’s allocated taxable income, (ii) distributions to fund payments that are required under the LLC’s tax receivable agreement, (iii) purchase of stock or stock options of the LLC from former officers, directors or employees of loan parties or payments pursuant to stock option and other benefit plans up to $2,000,000 in any fiscal year, and (iv) share repurchase payments up to $20,000,000 in any fiscal year subject to one-year carry forward and compliance with other financial covenants. In addition, the LLC may make dividends and distributions of up to $6,000,000 in any fiscal year, subject to compliance with other financial covenants.

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We will be required to pay the pre-IPO owners (or any permitted assignee) for certain tax benefits pursuant to our tax receivable agreement with them, and the amounts we may pay could be significant.

We entered into a tax receivable agreement with the pre-IPO owners (or their permitted assignees) that provides for the payment by us to the pre-IPO owners (or any permitted assignee) of 85% of the tax benefits, if any, that we are deemed to realize as a result of (1) the increases in tax basis resulting from our purchases or exchanges of LLC Units and (2) certain other tax benefits related to our entering into the tax receivable agreement, including tax benefits attributable to payments under the tax receivable agreement. These payment obligations are our obligations and not of the LLC. For purposes of the agreement, the benefit deemed realized by us will be computed by comparing our actual income tax liability (calculated with certain assumptions) to the amount of such taxes that we would have been required to pay had there been no increase to the tax basis of the assets of the LLC as a result of the purchases or exchanges, and had we not entered into the tax receivable agreement. Estimating the amount of payments that may be made under the tax receivable agreement is by its nature imprecise, insofar as the calculation of amounts payable depends on a variety of factors. The actual increase in tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the agreement, will vary depending upon a number of factors, including:


•	the timing of purchases or exchanges-for instance, the increase in any tax deductions will vary depending on the fair value, which may fluctuate over time, of the depreciable or amortizable assets of the LLC at the time of each purchase or exchange;


•	the price of shares of our Class A Common Stock at the time of the purchase or exchange-the increase in any tax deductions, as well as the tax basis increase in other assets, of the LLC is directly related to the price of shares of our Class A Common Stock at the time of the purchase or exchange;


•	the extent to which such purchases or exchanges are taxable-if an exchange or purchase is not taxable for any reason, increased deductions will not be available; and

•

the amount and timing of our income-the corporate taxpayer will be required to pay 85% of the deemed benefits as and when deemed realized. If we do not have taxable income, we generally will not be required (absent a change of control or other circumstances requiring an early termination payment) to make payments under the tax receivable agreement for that taxable year because no benefit will have been realized. However, any tax benefits that do not result in realized benefits in a given tax year will likely generate tax attributes that may be utilized to generate benefits in previous or future tax years. The utilization of such tax attributes will result in payments under the tax receivable agreement.

For more information see Note 2 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

We expect that the payments that we may make under the tax receivable agreement may be substantial. Assuming no material changes in the relevant tax law, and that we earn sufficient taxable income to realize all tax benefits that are subject to the agreement, we expect that future payments under the tax receivable agreement relating to the purchases by Malibu Boats, Inc. of LLC Units will be approximately $82.3 million over the next 18 years. Future payments to pre-IPO owners (or their permitted assignees) in respect of subsequent exchanges or purchases would be in addition to these amounts and are expected to be substantial. The foregoing numbers are merely estimates and the actual payments could differ materially. It is possible that future transactions or events, such as changes in tax legislation, could increase or decrease the actual tax benefits realized and the corresponding tax receivable agreement payments. For example, during the fourth quarter of fiscal year end 2017, the state of Tennessee enacted tax legislation, which lowered the estimated tax rate used in computing our future tax obligations and, in turn, reduced the future tax benefit expected to be realized by us related to increased tax basis from previous sales and exchanges of LLC Units by pre-IPO owners. The change in the underlying tax rate assumptions used to estimate our tax receivable agreement liability resulted in a decrease in such liability of $8.1 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017.

Further, there may be a material negative effect on our liquidity if distributions to us by the LLC are not sufficient to permit us to make payments under the tax receivable agreement after we have paid taxes. For example, we may have an obligation to make tax receivable agreement payments for a certain amount while receiving distributions from the LLC in a lesser amount, which would negatively affect our liquidity. The payments under the tax receivable agreement are not conditioned upon the pre-IPO owners' (or any permitted assignees’) continued ownership of us.

We are required to make a good faith effort to ensure that we have sufficient cash available to make any required payments under the tax receivable agreement. The limited liability company agreement of the LLC requires the LLC to make “tax distributions” which, in the ordinary course, will be sufficient to pay our actual tax liability and to fund required payments under the tax receivable agreement. If for any reason the LLC is not able to make a tax distribution in an amount that is

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sufficient to make any required payment under the tax receivable agreement or we otherwise lack sufficient funds, interest would accrue on any unpaid amounts at the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, plus 500 basis points until they are paid.

In certain cases, payments under the tax receivable agreement to the pre-IPO owners (or any permitted assignees) of LLC Units may be accelerated or significantly exceed the actual benefits we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the tax receivable agreement.

The tax receivable agreement provides that, in the event that we exercise our right to early termination of the tax receivable agreement, or in the event of a change in control or a material breach by us of our obligations under the tax receivable agreement, the tax receivable agreement will terminate, and we will be required to make a lump-sum payment equal to the present value of all forecasted future payments that would have otherwise been made under the tax receivable agreement, which lump-sum payment would be based on certain assumptions, including those relating to our future taxable income. The change in control payment and termination payments to the pre-IPO owners (or any permitted assignees) could be substantial and could exceed the actual tax benefits that we receive as a result of acquiring the LLC Units because the amounts of such payments would be calculated assuming that we would have been able to use the potential tax benefits each year for the remainder of the amortization periods applicable to the basis increases, and that tax rates applicable to us would be the same as they were in the year of the termination. In these situations, our obligations under the tax receivable agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity. There can be no assurance that we will be able to finance our obligations under the tax receivable agreement.

Payments under the tax receivable agreement will be based on the tax reporting positions that we determine. Although we are not aware of any issue that would cause the Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, to challenge a tax basis increase, Malibu Boats, Inc. will not be reimbursed for any payments previously made under the tax receivable agreement. As a result, in certain circumstances, payments could be made under the tax receivable agreement in excess of the benefits that Malibu Boats, Inc. actually realizes in respect of (1) the increases in tax basis resulting from our purchases or exchanges of LLC Units and (2) certain other tax benefits related to our entering into the tax receivable agreement, including tax benefits attributable to payments under the tax receivable agreement.

Risks Related to Our Class A Common Stock

Our stock price may be volatile and stockholders may be unable to sell shares at or above the price at which they purchased them.

Our stock price ranged from $12.13 per share to $29.50 per share during fiscal year 2017. The market price of our Class A Common Stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to the many risk factors listed in this section, and others beyond our control, including:


•	our ability to integrate our recent acquisition of Cobalt into our business;


•	general economic, market and industry conditions;


•	actual or anticipated fluctuations in our financial condition and results of operations;


•	addition or loss of consumers or dealers;


•	actual or anticipated changes in our rate of growth relative to our competitors;


•	additions or departures of key personnel;


•	failure to introduce new products, or for those products to achieve market acceptance;


•	disputes or other developments related to proprietary rights, including patents, litigation matters and our ability to obtain intellectual property protection for our technologies;


•	announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments;


•	fluctuations in the valuation of companies perceived by investors to be comparable to us;


•	changes in applicable laws or regulations;


•	issuance of new or updated research or reports by securities analysts;

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•	sales of our Class A Common Stock by us or our stockholders;


•	share price and volume fluctuations attributable to inconsistent trading volume levels of our shares; and


•	the expiration of contractual lock-up agreements with our executive officers, directors and stockholders.

Further, the stock markets may experience extreme price and volume fluctuations that can affect the market prices of equity securities. These fluctuations can be unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political and market conditions such as recessions, interest rate changes or international currency fluctuations, could harm the market price of our Class A Common Stock.

In the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention from other business concerns, which could harm our business.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or publish negative reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our Class A Common Stock will depend on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our shares or change their opinion of our shares, our share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish research or reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

Future sales of our Class A Common Stock in the public market could cause our share price to fall; furthermore, you may be diluted by future issuances of Class A Common Stock in connection with our incentive plans, acquisitions or otherwise.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A Common Stock in the public market, in particular sales by our directors, officers or other affiliates,, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our Class A Common Stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. Furthermore, any Class A Common Stock that we issue in connection with our Long-Term Incentive Plan or other equity incentive plans that we may adopt in the future, our acquisitions or otherwise would dilute the percentage ownership of holders of our Class A Common Stock.

Our governing documents and Delaware law could prevent a takeover that stockholders consider favorable and could also reduce the market price of our stock.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain certain provisions that could delay or prevent a change in control. These provisions could also make it more difficult for stockholders to elect directors and take other corporate actions. These provisions include, without limitation:


•	a classified board structure;


•	a requirement that stockholders must provide advance notice to propose nominations or have other business considered at a meeting of stockholders;


•	supermajority stockholder approval to amend our bylaws or certain provisions in our certificate of incorporation; and


•	authorization of blank check preferred stock.

In addition, we are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. These provisions may prohibit large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding Class A Common Stock, from engaging in certain business combinations without the approval of substantially all of our stockholders for a certain period of time.

These and other provisions in our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and under Delaware law could discourage potential takeover attempts, reduce the price that investors might be willing to pay for shares of our Class A Common Stock in the future and result in the market price being lower than it would be without these provisions.

We currently do not intend to pay dividends on our Class A Common Stock and, consequently, the only opportunity for stockholders to achieve a return on their investment is if the price of our Class A Common Stock appreciates.

We currently do not plan to declare or pay dividends on shares of our Class A Common Stock in the foreseeable future.

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Further, because we are a holding company, our ability to pay dividends depends on our receipt of cash distributions from the LLC and the LLC also relies on its subsidiaries for receipt of cash for distributions. This may further restrict our ability to pay dividends as a result of the laws of the jurisdiction of organization of the LLC and its subsidiaries, agreements of the LLC or its subsidiaries or covenants under our, the LLC’s or its subsidiaries’ existing or future indebtedness. For example, our credit agreement generally prohibits the LLC, Malibu Boats, LLC and Malibu Domestic International Sales Corp. from paying dividends or making distributions. Our credit agreement permits, however, (i) distributions based on a member’s allocated taxable income, (ii) distributions to fund payments that are required under the LLC’s tax receivable agreement, (iii) purchase of stock or stock options of the LLC from former officers, directors or employees of loan parties or payments pursuant to stock option and other benefit plans up to $2,000,000 in any fiscal year, and (iv) share repurchase payments up to $20,000,000 in any fiscal year subject to one-year carry forward and compliance with other financial covenants. In addition, the LLC may make dividends and distributions of up to $6,000,000 in any fiscal year, subject to compliance with other financial covenants. Consequently, for stockholders the only opportunity to achieve a return on the shares they purchase will be if the market price of our Class A Common Stock appreciates and they sell their shares at a profit.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

Not applicable.

Item 2. Properties

Tennessee

Our boats are manufactured and tested on the lake at the site of our 197,300 square-foot primary manufacturing facility located in Loudon, Tennessee. Our primary facility is leased pursuant to a lease agreement that has a term through March 31, 2028, with the option to extend for three additional terms of ten years each.

On April 1, 2016, we completed an addition to our warehouse and loading facility on 16 acres of land we own in Loudon, Tennessee. The facility contains approximately 42,000 square feet of production, warehouse and office space and is used primarily for trailer manufacturing and handling and shipping of our finished boats. These facilities are used in our U.S. segment.

On November 10, 2016, we completed the purchase of an additional facility in Loudon, Tennessee. The facility contains approximately 70,000 square feet of production, warehouse and office space and is utilized for our vertical integration initiatives. This facility is used in our U.S. segment.

California

We lease a 172,500 square-foot facility in Merced, California pursuant to a lease agreement that has a term through March 31, 2028, with the option to extend for three additional terms of ten years each. Our Merced site houses both our product development team that focuses on design innovations as well as our tower and tower accessory manufacturing operations. The components assembled at this site are delivered to our facilities in Tennessee and our Australian licensee. Our Merced site is used in both our U.S. and Australia segments.

Australia

We manufacture and test boats at two facilities in Albury, Australia with combined square-footage of 68,222. Each facility is leased pursuant to a lease agreement and each with a term through October 22, 2024, with two 5-year options to extend lease term. These facilities are used in our Australia segment.

Kansas

On July 6, 2017, we completed the acquisition of Cobalt and its manufacturing facilities. Cobalt boats are manufactured in Neodesha, Kansas with four locations providing 451,000 square feet of manufacturing space.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

The discussion of legal matters under the section entitled "Legal Proceedings" is incorporated by reference from Note 15 of our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not Applicable.

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PART II.

Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Market Information

Our Class A Common Stock has been listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “MBUU” since January 31, 2014. Prior to that date, there was no public trading market for our Class A Common Stock. The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low sales prices of our Class A Common Stock as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market since our initial public offering:



	High		Low
Fiscal Year 2016
First Quarter	$	21.47	$	13.57
Second Quarter	$	16.83	$	12.90
Third Quarter	$	16.71	$	11.97
Fourth Quarter	$	18.08	$	11.38

Fiscal Year 2017
First Quarter	$	16.78	$	12.13
Second Quarter	$	20.10	$	14.12
Third Quarter	$	22.95	$	17.17
Fourth Quarter	$	29.50	$	21.39

On September 6, 2017, the last reported sale price on the NASDAQ Global Select Market of our Class A Common Stock was $26.79 per share. As of September 6, 2017, we had approximately seven holders of record of our Class A Common Stock and 18 holders of record of our Class B Common Stock. The actual number of stockholders is greater than this number of record holders, and includes stockholders who are beneficial owners, but whose shares are held in street name by brokers and other nominees. This number of holders of record also does not include stockholders whose shares may be held in trust by other entities.

Dividends

Malibu Boats, Inc. has never declared or paid any cash dividends on its capital stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain all of our future earnings for use in the expansion and operation of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to declare cash dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors, subject to applicable law and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, our credit facility restricts our ability to pay dividends on our capital stock in certain cases.

Malibu Boats, Inc. is a holding company and has no material assets other than its ownership of LLC Units. We intend to cause the LLC to make distributions to us in an amount sufficient to cover cash dividends, if any, declared by us. If the LLC makes such distributions to Malibu Boats, Inc., the other holders of LLC Units will be entitled to receive equivalent distributions on a pro rata basis.

Our credit agreement governing our credit facility generally prohibits the LLC and our other subsidiaries from paying dividends or making distributions to us. Our credit agreement permits, however, (i) distributions based on a member’s allocated taxable income, (ii) distributions to fund payments that are required under the LLC’s tax receivable agreement, (iii) purchase of stock or stock options of the LLC from former officers, directors or employees of loan parties or payments pursuant to stock option and other benefit plans up to $2,000,000 in any fiscal year, and (iv) share repurchase payments up to $20,000,000 in any fiscal year subject to one-year carry forward and compliance with other financial covenants. In addition, the LLC may make dividends and distributions of up to $6,000,000 in any fiscal year, subject to compliance with other financial covenants.

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Stock Performance Graph

The stock price performance graph below shall not be deemed soliciting material or to be filed with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C under the Exchange Act or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, nor shall it be incorporated by reference into any past or future filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, except to the extent we specifically request that it be treated as soliciting material or specifically incorporate it by reference into a filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.

The following graph shows the cumulative total stockholder return of an investment of $100 in cash at market close on January 31, 2014 (the first day of trading of our Class A Common Stock), through June 30, 2017 for (i) our Class A Common Stock and (ii) performance of the Russell 2000 Index and Recreational Vehicle Index for the same period. Pursuant to applicable SEC rules, all values assume reinvestment of the full amount of all dividends, however no dividends have been declared on our Class A Common Stock to date. The stockholder return shown on the graph below is not necessarily indicative of future performance, and we do not make or endorse any predictions as to future stockholder returns.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

We did not repurchase any stock during the quarter ended June 30, 2017. The stock repurchase program which was authorized by our Board of Directors on February 1, 2016 expired on February 8, 2017.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

Equity compensation plan information required by this Item 5 will be included in our definitive proxy statement for our annual meeting of stockholders, which will be filed with the SEC no later than 120 days after the end of our fiscal year ended June 30, 2017 (the "Proxy Statement"), and is incorporated herein by reference.

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Item 6. Selected Financial Data

The following table presents our selected financial data. The table should be read in conjunction with "Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," and "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The selected financial data below does not reflect the financial results for Cobalt Boats, LLC, which we acquired on July 6, 2017. The audited consolidated financial statements of Cobalt Boats, LLC as of and for each of the fiscal years ended September 30, 2014, 2015 and 2016, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Cobalt Boats, LLC as of March 31, 2017 and for each of the six months ended March 31, 2016 and 2017, and the unaudited pro forma financial information of Malibu Boats, Inc. giving effect to the acquisition of Cobalt and related transactions as if it occurred on July 1, 2015, in each case together with the notes related thereto, appear in our Current Report on Form 8-K/A filed on July 12, 2017.

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	Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
	2017			2016			2015			2014 ⁽¹⁾			2013
	(Dollars in thousands)
Consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income (loss) data:
Net sales	$	281,937		$	252,965		$	228,621		$	190,935		$	167,012
Cost of sales	206,899			186,145			168,192			140,141			123,412
Gross profit	75,038			66,820			60,429			50,794			43,600
Operating expenses:
Selling and marketing	8,619			7,475			7,007			6,098			4,937
General and administrative	24,783			21,256			19,809			39,974			14,177
Amortization	2,198			2,185			2,463			5,177			5,178
Operating income (loss)	39,438			35,904			31,150			(455		)	19,308
Other income (expense), net	9,230			(3,808		)	696			(2,953		)	(1,324		)
Net income (loss) before income tax expense (benefit)	48,668			32,096			31,846			(3,408		)	17,984
Income tax expense (benefit)	17,593			11,801			8,663			(2,220		)	—
Net income (loss)	31,075			20,295			23,183			(1,188		)	17,984
Net income attributable to non-controlling interest ²	2,717			2,253			8,522			3,488			17,984
Net income (loss) attributable to Malibu Boats, Inc.	$	28,358		$	18,042		$	14,661		$	(4,676	)	$	—

Net income (loss) available to Class A Common Stock per share ³:										For Period from February 5, 2014 to June 30, 2014
Basic	$	1.59		$	1.01		$	0.93		$	(0.42	)
Diluted	$	1.58		$	1.00		$	0.93		$	(0.42	)

Weighted average shares outstanding used in computing net income (loss) per share:
Basic	17,846,894			17,934,580			15,732,531			11,055,310
Diluted	17,951,332			17,985,427			15,741,018			11,055,310

Consolidated balance sheet data:
Total assets	$	223,663		$	222,326		$	200,314		$	84,801		$	65,927
Total liabilities	171,427			202,297			199,029			56,731			45,913
Total stockholders’/members' equity	52,236			20,029			1,285			28,070			20,014

Additional financial and other data:
Unit volume	3,815			3,569			3,404			2,910			2,672
Gross margin	26.6		%	26.4		%	26.4		%	26.6		%	26.1		%
Adjusted EBITDA ⁴	$	55,721		$	48,231		$	43,648		$	37,272		$	31,758
Adjusted EBITDA margin ⁴	19.8		%	19.1		%	19.1		%	19.5		%	19.0		%
Adjusted fully distributed net income per share ⁴	$	1.56		$	1.32		$	1.11		$	0.78		$	0.68

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(1)	On February 5, 2014, we completed our initial public offering of Class A common stock. Immediately prior to the closing of the IPO, a new single class of LLC Units was allocated among the pre-IPO owners of the LLC in exchange for their prior membership interests of the LLC based upon the liquidation value of the LLC, assuming it was liquidated at the time of the IPO with a value implied by the initial public offering price of the shares of Class A Common Stock sold in the IPO. Immediately prior to the closing of the IPO, there were 17,071,424 LLC Units issued and outstanding.
(2)	For the period after the IPO on February 5, 2014, the non-controlling interest represents the portion of earnings or (loss) attributable to the economic interest held by the non-controlling LLC Unit holders. The weighted average non-controlling interest attributable to ownership interests in the LLC was 7.0%, 11.1%, 36.8% and 50.7% for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2017, 2016, 2015 and for the period from February 5, 2014 (the date of our IPO) to June 30, 2014, respectively. The non-controlling interest was 6.6% as of June 30, 2017, 7.4% as of June 30, 2016 and 2015 and 50.7% as of June 30, 2014, respectively. Since all of the earnings prior to and up to February 5, 2014 were entirely allocable to the LLC Unit holders, we updated our historical presentation to attribute these earnings to the non-controlling interest accordingly.
(3)	As noted above, all earnings (loss) prior and up to February 5, 2014, the date of completion of the IPO, were entirely allocable to the non-controlling interest. As a result, earnings (loss) per share information attributable to these historical periods is not comparable to earnings (loss) per share information attributable to the Company after the IPO and, as such, has been omitted.
(4)	Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, and adjusted fully distributed net income per share are non-GAAP financial measures. For definitions of adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, and adjusted fully distributed net income and a reconciliation of each to net income, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-GAAP Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

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Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations



	Overview	43
	Components of Results of Operations	44
	Recent Developments	44
	Outlook	45
	Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations	45
	Results of Operations	47
	GAAP Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures	52
	Quarterly Results of Operations	55
	Liquidity and Capital Resources	56
	Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements	58
	Contractual Obligations and Commitments	58
	Seasonality	59
	Emerging Growth Company	59
	Inflation	60
	Critical Accounting Policies	60
	New Accounting Pronouncements	63

Overview

We are a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a diverse range of recreational powerboats, including performance sport boats, sterndrive and outboard boats. We have the #1 market share position in the United States in the performance sport boat category through our Malibu and Axis brands. With our recent acquisition of Cobalt, we also have the #1 market share position in the United States through our Cobalt brand in the 24’—29’ segment of the sterndrive category. Our boats are used for water sports, including water skiing, wakeboarding and wake surfing, as well as general recreational boating. We believe we have been a consistent innovator in the recreational powerboat industry, designing products that appeal to an expanding range of recreational boaters and water sports enthusiasts whose passion for boating and water sports is a key aspect of their lifestyle. We believe many of our innovations, such as our proprietary Surf Gate technology launched in 2012, expand the market for our products by introducing consumers to new and exciting recreational activities. In July 2017, we added another strong brand in Cobalt with a versatile lineup of boats, further deepening our product portfolio, expanding our addressable market, and ultimately, our ability to provide consumers with a better customer-inspired experience.

We sell our boats through a dealer network that we believe is the strongest in the recreational powerboat category. As of July 1, 2017, our Malibu and Axis brand distribution channel consisted of 126 independent dealers operating in 146 locations in North America and we had 59 independent dealer locations across 40 countries outside of North America, including Australia. Our acquisition of Cobalt has allowed us to expand into Cobalt’s strong network which consists of 111 independent dealers operating 142 locations worldwide.

We have undergone significant growth since we were founded in 1982 and began building custom ski boats in a small shop in Merced, California. Beginning in 2009, under the leadership of new management, we implemented several measures designed to improve our cost structure, increase our operating leverage, enhance our product offerings and brands, and strengthen our dealer network. We have also continued to build on our legacy of innovation and invested in product development and process improvements from the evolution of our patented Power Wedge introduced in 2006, to the release of

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our patented Surf Gate technology in 2012, to the integration of the manufacturing of our towers and trailers and our current initiative to integrate our engine production. We believe our innovative features drive our high average selling prices.

As a result of our innovation, process improvements and strong dealer network and management team, among other reasons, we have achieved fiscal year 2017 net sales, net income and adjusted EBITDA of $281.9 million, $31.1 million and $55.7 million, respectively, compared to $253.0 million, $20.3 million and $48.2 million, respectively, for fiscal year 2016 and $228.6 million, $23.2 million and $43.6 million, respectively, for fiscal year 2015. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017, net sales increased 11.5%, gross margin as a percentage of sales increased to 26.6%, net income increased 53.1% and adjusted EBITDA increased 15.5% compared to the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016. Our results for fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015 include our Australian licensee since its acquisition on October 23, 2014. For the definition of adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation to net income, see “GAAP Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Components of Results of Operations

Net Sales

We generate revenue from the sale of boats to our dealers. The substantial majority of our net sales are derived from the sale of boats, including optional features included at the time of the initial wholesale purchase of the boat. Net sales consists of the following:


•	Gross sales from:


•	Boat sales—consists of sales of boats to our dealer network. In addition, nearly all of our boat sales include optional feature upgrades purchased by the consumer, such as our Integrated Surf Platform which includes Surf Gate and Power Wedge II, which increase the average selling price of our boats;


•	Trailers, parts and accessories sales—consists of sales of boat trailers we manufacture and replacement and aftermarket boat parts and accessories to our dealer network; and


•	Royalty income—consists of royalties attributable to license agreements with various boat manufacturers, including Nautique, Chaparral, Mastercraft, and Tige related to the use of our intellectual property.


•	Net sales are net of:


•	Sales returns—consists primarily of contractual repurchases of boats either repossessed by the floor plan financing provider from the dealer or returned by the dealer under our warranty program; and

•

Rebates, free flooring and discounts—consists of incentives, including rebates and free flooring, we provide to our dealers based on sales of eligible products. If a dealer meets its monthly or quarterly commitment volume based on tier, as well as other terms of the rebate program, the dealer is entitled to a specified rebate tied to each tier. Our dealers that take delivery of current model year boats in the offseason, typically July through April in the U.S., are entitled to have us pay the interest to floor the boat until the earlier of (1) the sale of the unit or (2) a date near the end of the current model year, which incentive we refer to as “free flooring.” From time to time, we may extend the flooring program to eligible models beyond the offseason period. For more information, see "Item 1. Business - Dealer Management."

Cost of Sales

Our cost of sales includes all of the costs to manufacture our products, including raw materials, components, supplies, direct labor and factory overhead. For components and accessories manufactured by third-party vendors, such costs represent the amounts invoiced by the vendors. Shipping costs and depreciation expense related to manufacturing equipment and facilities are also included in cost of sales. Warranty costs associated with the repair or replacement of our boats under warranty are also included in cost of sales.

Operating Expenses

Our operating expenses include selling and marketing, and general and administrative costs. Each of these items includes personnel and related expenses, supplies, non-manufacturing overhead, third-party professional fees and various other operating expenses. Further, selling and marketing expenditures include the cost of advertising and various promotional sales incentive programs. General and administrative expenses include, among other things, salaries, benefits and other personnel related expenses for employees engaged in product development, engineering, finance, information technology, human resources and executive management. Other costs include outside legal and accounting fees, investor relations, risk

management (insurance) and other administrative costs. General and administrative expenses also include product development expenses associated with our engines vertical integration initiative and acquisition or integration related expenses.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net consists of interest expense and other income or expense, net. Interest expense consists of interest charged under our outstanding debt, interest on our interest rate swap arrangement, changes in the fair value of our interest rate swap we entered into on July 1, 2015, and amortization of deferred financing costs on our credit facilities. Other income includes a portion of the amounts received from the settlement of our litigation with Mastercraft Boat Company, LLC ("Mastercraft") entered into on May 2, 2017, the amount received from Nautique related to our litigation settlement entered into on February 6, 2015, and a fourth quarter 2017 adjustment to our tax receivable agreement liability.

Income Taxes

Malibu Boats, Inc. is subject to U.S. federal and state income tax in multiple jurisdictions with respect to our allocable share of any net taxable income of the LLC. The LLC is a pass-through entity for federal purposes but incurs income tax in certain state jurisdictions. The income tax provision reflects a reported effective income tax rate of 36.2%, 36.8% and 27.2% attributable to Malibu Boats, Inc.'s share of income for fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The reported effective tax rates differ from the statutory federal income tax rate of 35% primarily due to the impact of the non-controlling interest and state income taxes attributable to the LLC, including the benefit of deductions under Section 199 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Internal Revenue Code") and recording of a valuation allowance related to the outside basis in the LLC. Our effective tax rate also reflects the impact of the Company's share of the LLC's permanent items such as stock compensation expense attributable to profits interests. In fiscal year 2015, our effective tax rate was impacted by nondeductible offering costs, acquisition related costs, and the impact of an out-of-period tax adjustment associated with benefits recognized for the Tennessee jobs tax credit that are not expected to be recurring in nature.

Net Income Attributable to Non-controlling Interest

As of June 30, 2017, we had a 93.4% controlling economic interest and 100% voting interest in the LLC. As of June 30, 2016 and 2015, we had a 92.6% controlling economic interest and 100% voting interest in the LLC. We consolidate the LLC's operating results for financial statement purposes. Net income attributable to non-controlling interest represents the portion of net income attributable to the LLC members.

Recent Developments

Cobalt Acquisition

On July 6, 2017, Malibu Boats, LLC, our wholly owned indirect subsidiary, completed the purchase of all of the outstanding equity interests of Cobalt for a purchase price of $130.0 million. The purchase price is subject to certain adjustments, including customary adjustments for the amount of working capital in the business at the closing date and subject to adjustment for any judgment or settlement in connection with a pending litigation matter between Cobalt and Sea Ray Boats, Inc. and Brunswick Corporation. We paid $1.0 million of the purchase price in 39,262 newly issued shares of our Class A common stock and the remainder of the purchase price was paid using cash and borrowings under our new Second Amended and Restated Credit Facility that we entered into in connection with the acquisition. Mr. William Paxson St. Clair, Jr., a former owner of Cobalt, was appointed as a director of Malibu Boats, Inc. and as President of Cobalt upon completion of our acquisition of Cobalt.

Refinancing of Credit Facility

On June 28, 2017, Malibu Boats, LLC, as the borrower, entered into a Second Amended and Restated Credit Agreement with SunTrust Bank, as administrative agent, swingline lender and issuing bank. The credit agreement provides us with a term loan facility in an aggregate principal amount of $160.0 million ($55.0 million of which was drawn on June 28, 2017 to refinance the outstanding loans under our prior credit facility and $105.0 million of which was drawn on July 6, 2017 to fund the payment of the purchase price for the acquisition of Cobalt, as well as to pay certain fees and expenses related to entering into the credit agreement) and a revolving credit facility of up to $35.0 million. Each of the term loans and the revolving credit facility have a maturity date of July 1, 2022.

Equity Offering

On August 14, 2017, we completed a registered offering of 2,300,000 shares of our Class A Common Stock (which included 300,000 shares of Class A Common Stock issued upon the exercise by the underwriters of an option to purchase such additional shares of Class A Common Stock) to several underwriters, represented by Raymond James & Associates, Inc.

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and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., at a price of $24.05 per share, after deducting underwriter discounts and commissions.

The net proceeds from the offering, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions was $55.3 million. Of the net proceeds received from the offering, we used $50.0 million to voluntarily prepay amounts outstanding on our term loans under the Second Amended and Restated Credit Agreement and used the remaining net proceeds for general working capital purposes. We exercised our option to apply the prepayment to principal installments on our term loans through December 31, 2021 and a portion of principal installments due on March 31, 2022.

Outlook

Industry-wide marine retail registrations continue to recover from the years following the global financial crisis. According to Statistical Surveys, Inc., domestic retail registration volumes of performance sport boats, fiberglass sterndrive and fiberglass outboards increased at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 6% between 2011 and 2016, for the 50 reporting states. This has been led by growth in our core market, performance sport boats, having produced a double digit compound annual growth rate over that period. Domestic retail demand growth has continued in performance sport boats for calendar year 2017, however, the pace is not as strong as that of calendar years 2012 through 2016. Fiberglass sterndrive and outboard boats, the target markets for our Cobalt branded product, have seen their combined market grow at a 5% compound annual growth rate between 2011 and 2016. Cobalt’s primary market for sterndrive propulsion has been challenged, but their performance has been helped by share gains and the overall market growth has been driven by outboard propulsion, where they are a new entrant. We expect the growing demand for our products to continue, and there are numerous variables that have the potential to impact our volumes, both positively and negatively. For example, we believe the substantial decrease in the price of oil and the broad strength of U.S. dollar has resulted in reduced demand for our boats in certain markets. To date, growth in our domestic market has offset significantly diminished demand from economies that are driven by the oil industry and international markets. Consumer confidence, expanded or eroded, is a variable that could also impact demand in both directions. Other challenges that could impact demand for recreational powerboats include higher interest rates reducing retail consumer appetite for our product, the availability of credit to our dealers and retail consumers, fuel costs, the continued acceptance of our new products in the recreational boating market, our ability to compete in the competitive power boating industry, and the costs of labor and certain of our raw materials and key components.

Since 2008, we have increased our market share among manufacturers of performance sport boats due to new product development, improved distribution, new models, and innovative features. As the market for our product has recovered our competitors have become more aggressive in their product introductions, increased their distribution and begun to compete with our patented Surf Gate system. This competitive environment continued in 2015 and our share was up only slightly. However, during calendar year 2016 our domestic market share increased meaningfully as a result of continued execution with well-received new models, innovative features and management of our dealer network. While we believe we are positioned to continue to gain market share over time, our market share in the performance sport boat segment will be challenged to grow in the near-term because of the significant increase in market share that we accomplished during calendar year 2016. We continue to maintain a strong lead over our nearest competitor in terms of market position and believe that we are well positioned to maintain our industry leading position given our strong dealer network and new product pipeline. In addition, we continue to be the market share leader in both the premium and value-oriented product sub-categories.

We believe our track record of expanding our market share due to new product development, improved distribution, new models, and innovative features is directly transferable to our Cobalt acquisition. While Cobalt is the market share leader in the 24’-29’ sterndrive market, we believe our experience positions us to execute a strategy to drive enhanced share in that core foot length segment as well as in other areas of opportunity with different foot lengths and different propulsion technologies, namely outboard boats. Our efforts to refine Cobalt’s new product development efforts to maximize share gains will take time and our ability to influence near-term model introductions is limited, but we have already begun to execute on this strategy. We believe enhancing new product development combined with diligent management of the Cobalt dealer network positions us to meaningfully improve our share of the sterndrive and outboard markets over time.

Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations

We believe that our results of operations and our growth prospects are affected by a number of factors, which we discuss below.

Economic Environment and Consumer Demand

Our product sales are impacted by general economic conditions, which affect the demand for our products, the demand for optional features, the availability of credit for our dealers and retail consumers, and overall consumer confidence. Consumer spending, especially purchases of discretionary items, tends to decline during recessionary periods and tends to increase during expansionary periods. The recreational boating industry, which was adversely affected by the economic downturn in 2008 and

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2009, has had a sustained recovery period since 2010. In recent years, the performance sport boat category has grown faster than the overall powerboat market. In 2015, domestic sales of new performance sport boats increased by 10% compared to 2014, while new unit sales of all other powerboats grew 7% over the same period. More recently, new unit sales of performance sport boats increased 12% for 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, while new unit sales of all other powerboats increased 3% over the same period. With the acquisition of Cobalt in July 2017, we captured significant, growing market position in adjacent markets including premium stern drive, outboard and inboard cruisers. Whereas growth in the sterndrive segment decreased 3% in 2016 when compared to fiscal 2015, increased demand for the 24'-29' boats in the sterndrive category enabled Cobalt to achieve market share gains over the last four years. As of 2016, our leading market share in the 24'-29' boats segment of the sterndrive category was almost 30%. While there is no guarantee that our market will continue to grow, we expect to benefit from the recovery in the boating industry and from improved consumer confidence levels.

New Product Development and Innovation

Our long-term revenue prospects are based in part on our ability to develop new products and technological enhancements that meet the demands of existing and new consumers. Developing and introducing new boat models and features that deliver improved performance and convenience are essential to leveraging the value of our Malibu, Axis, and Cobalt brands. By introducing new boat models, we are able to appeal to a new and broader range of consumers and focus on underserved or adjacent segments of the broader powerboat category. To keep product fresh and at the forefront of technological innovation in the boating industry, we aim to introduce at least 4 new boat models per year. We also believe we are able to capture additional value from the sale of each boat through the introduction of new features, which we believe permits us to raise average selling prices and enhances our margins. We allocate most of our product development costs to new model and feature designs, usually with a specific consumer base and market in mind. We use industry data to analyze our markets and evaluate revenue potential from each major project we undertake. Our product development cycle, or the time from initial concept to volume production, can be up to two years. As a result, our development costs, which may be significant, may not be offset by corresponding new sales during the same periods. Once new designs and technologies become available to our consumers, we typically realize revenue from these products from one year up to 15 years. We may not, however, realize our revenue expectations from each innovation. We believe our close communication with our consumers, dealers and sponsored athletes regarding their future product desires enhances the efficiency of our product development expenditures.

Product Mix

Historically, we have been successful in leveraging our robust product offering and features to enhance our sales growth and gross margins. Our product mix, as it relates to our brands, types of boats and features, not only makes our offerings attractive to consumers but also helps drive higher sales and margins. Historically, we have been able to realize higher sales and margins when we sell larger boats compared to our smaller boats, our premium Malibu brand compared to our entry-level Axis brand and our boats that are fully-equipped with optional features. We expect this to continue with the addition of our Cobalt brand. We will strive to continue to develop new features and models and maintain an attractive product mix that optimizes sales growth and margins.

Ability to Manage Manufacturing Costs, Sales Cycles and Inventory Levels

Our results of operations are affected by our ability to manage our manufacturing costs effectively and to respond to changing sales cycles. Our product costs vary based on the costs of supplies and raw materials, as well as labor costs. We have implemented various initiatives to reduce our cost base and improve the efficiency of our manufacturing process. For example, we re-engineered the manufacturing process in our Tennessee facility to reduce labor hours per boat produced and the amount of re-work required. We continuously monitor and review our manufacturing processes to identify improvements and create additional efficiencies. We expect to introduce process improvements to our new Kansas facility that manufactures Cobalt boats as we integrate them into our operations and with our suppliers. We rely on our insights into the market gleaned from dealer inventory levels, industry reports about anticipated demand for our products in the upcoming sales cycle and our own estimates and assumptions in formulating our manufacturing plan for the following fiscal year. Throughout our consumer sales cycle, which reaches its peak from March through August each year, we adjust our manufacturing activities in order to adapt to variability in demand.

Dealer Network, Dealer Financing and Incentives

We rely on our dealer network to distribute and sell our products. We believe we have developed the strongest distribution network in the performance sport boat category. To improve and expand our network and compete effectively for dealers, we regularly monitor and assess the performance of our dealers and evaluate dealer locations and geographic coverage in order to identify potential market opportunities. Our acquisition of Cobalt has allowed us to expand into Cobalt’s strong dealer network as well. We intend to continue to add dealers in new territories in the United States as well as internationally, which we believe will result in increased unit sales.

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Our dealers are exposed to seasonal variations in consumer demand for boats. As discussed above under “Ability to Manage Manufacturing Costs, Sales Cycles and Inventory Levels,” we address anticipated demand for our products and manage our manufacturing in order to mitigate seasonal variations. We also use our dealer incentive programs to encourage dealers to order in the off-season by providing floor plan financing relief, which typically permits dealers to take delivery of current model year boats between July 1 and April 30 on an interest-free basis for a specified period. We also offer our dealers other incentives, including rebates, seasonal discounts, promotional co-op arrangements and other allowances. We facilitate floor plan financing programs for many of our dealers by entering into repurchase agreements with certain third-party lenders, which enable our dealers, under certain circumstances, to establish lines of credit with the third-party lenders to purchase inventory. Under these floor plan financing programs, a dealer draws on the floor plan facility upon the purchase of our boats and the lender pays the invoice price of the boats. During fiscal year 2017, no units were repurchased from our Malibu or Axis dealers. For fiscal year 2016, we agreed to repurchase three units from the lender of two of our former dealers resulting in combined losses of $0.03 million. Other than these repurchase commitments, we have not repurchased any units from lenders since July 1, 2010. We will continue to review and refine our dealer incentive offerings and monitor any exposures arising under these arrangements.

Vertical Integration

In the first quarter of fiscal 2015, we commenced full trailer manufacturing operations and no longer purchase trailers from a third party supplier. This expansion of our business has allowed us to reduce or eliminate certain costs, improve the quality of trailers used with our boats and generate various other margin and product opportunities to make us more responsive to our customers’ needs and competitive.

On November 14, 2016, we entered into an engine supply agreement with General Motors for the supply of engine blocks, with the intention of marinizing our own engines for use in our performance sports boats. This initiative provides us with the next significant vertical integration opportunity which will allow us to control the design, performance, and customization of future engine offerings, providing us direct access to the engine block manufacturer that has been supplying the industry for decades, making our engines unique to Malibu and Axis brands. We expect to begin using these engines in our boat as early as model year 2019. Our plan currently calls for us to invest up to $18.0 million for three years after entering into the agreement with General Motors. To facilitate the marinization of engines, we acquired a 70,000 square foot facility adjacent to our boat manufacturing operations in Loudon, Tennessee. Once operational, we believe our inboard engine manufacturing business will be the largest in the industry, providing the immediate operational advantages of scale. Our scale, along with our engineering team, will provide Malibu with the ability to provide an affordable and unique offering to our dealers and retail customers.

Results of Operations

The table below sets forth our consolidated results of operations, expressed in thousands (except unit volume and net sales per unit) and as a percentage of net sales, for the periods presented. Our consolidated financial results for these periods are not necessarily indicative of the consolidated financial results that we will achieve in future periods. Certain totals for the table below will not sum to exactly 100% due to rounding.

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	Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
	2017					2016					2015
	$			% Revenue		$			% Revenue		$			% Revenue
Net sales	281,937			100.0	%	252,965			100.0	%	228,621			100.0	%
Cost of sales	206,899			73.4	%	186,145			73.6	%	168,192			73.6	%
Gross profit	75,038			26.6	%	66,820			26.4	%	60,429			26.4	%
Operating expenses:
Selling and marketing	8,619			3.1	%	7,475			3.0	%	7,007			3.1	%
General and administrative	24,783			8.8	%	21,256			8.4	%	19,809			8.7	%
Amortization	2,198			0.8	%	2,185			0.9	%	2,463			1.1	%
Operating income	39,438			14.0	%	35,904			14.2	%	31,150			13.6	%
Other income (expense):
Other	10,789			3.8	%	76			—	%	1,650			0.7	%
Interest expense	(1,559		)	(0.6	)%	(3,884		)	(1.5	)%	(954		)	(0.4	)%
Other income (expense), net	9,230			3.3	%	(3,808		)	(1.5	)%	696			0.3	%
Net income before provision for income taxes	48,668			17.3	%	32,096			12.7	%	31,846			13.9	%
Income tax provision	17,593			6.2	%	11,801			4.7	%	8,663			3.8	%
Net income	31,075			11.0	%	20,295			8.0	%	23,183			10.1	%
Net income attributable to non-controlling interest	2,717			1.0	%	2,253			0.9	%	8,522			3.7	%
Net income attributable to Malibu Boats, Inc.	28,358			10.1	%	18,042			7.1	%	14,661			6.4	%

	Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
	2017					2016					2015
	Unit Volumes			% Total		Unit Volumes			% Total		Unit Volumes			% Total
Volume by Segment
US	3,505			91.9	%	3,255			91.2	%	3,179			93.4	%
Australia	310			8.1	%	314			8.8	%	225			6.6	%
Total Units	3,815					3,569					3,404

Volume by Brand
Malibu	2,698			70.7	%	2,388			66.9	%	2,325			68.3	%
Axis	1,117			29.3	%	1,181			33.1	%	1,079			31.7	%
Total Units	3,815					3,569					3,404

Net sales per unit	$	73,902				$	70,878				$	67,162

Comparison of the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2017 to the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2016

Net Sales

Net sales for fiscal year 2017 increased $29.0 million, or 11.5%, to $281.9 million, compared to fiscal year 2016. Included in net sales for fiscal years 2017 and 2016 were net sales of $23.0 million and $20.8 million, respectively, attributable to our Australian business. Unit volume for fiscal year 2017 increased 246 units, or 6.9%, to 3,815 units compared to fiscal year 2016. The increase in units was primarily driven by demand for our new models such as the Malibu Wakesetter 21 VLX and 22 and 24 MXZs and optional features. Net sales per unit for fiscal year 2017 increased 4.3% to $73,902 compared to fiscal year 2016, primarily driven by year over year price increases, a mix shift from Axis to Malibu, and lower discount activity, offset by higher rebate expense associated with our new rebate program for model year 2017. Net sales per unit in the U.S., excluding sales to our Australian operations, increased 3.6% to $73,878 for fiscal year 2017 as compared to fiscal year 2016.

Cost of Sales

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Cost of sales for fiscal year 2017 increased $20.8 million, or 11.1%, to $206.9 million compared to fiscal year 2016. The increase in cost of sales was primarily driven by increased volumes, higher material content and labor hours driven by the mix shift from Axis to Malibu as well as higher warranty expense. Included in cost of sales were $0.3 million in costs related to our engines vertical integration initiative.

Gross Profit

Gross profit for fiscal year 2017 increased $8.2 million, or 12.3%, compared to fiscal year 2016. The increase in gross profit resulted primarily from higher volumes. Gross margin for fiscal year 2017 increased 20 basis points to 26.6% compared to fiscal year 2016 due primarily to lower material cost margin, offset partially by higher labor and warranty expenses.

Operating Expenses

Selling and marketing expense for fiscal year 2017 increased $1.1 million, or 15.3%, to $8.6 million compared to fiscal year 2016 primarily due to increased payroll, commissions and related costs attributable to additional headcount. As a percentage of sales, sales and marketing expense increased 10 basis points from 3.0% fiscal year 2016 to 3.1% for the fiscal year 2017. General and administrative expense for fiscal year 2017 increased $3.5 million, or 16.6%, to $24.8 million compared to fiscal year 2016. The increase in general and administrative expenses was driven in part by an increase in acquisition related expenses tied to our acquisition of Cobalt Boats on July 6, 2017, product development activities in connection with our engines vertical integration initiative, increased legal expenses for our Mastercraft litigation which was settled in the fourth quarter in fiscal year 2017, and higher incentive compensation, offset by a $1.1 million reduction in the Marine Power Holding, LLC (“Marine Power”) litigation judgment following a court verdict in the second quarter of fiscal year 2017 and lower stock compensation expense associated, in part, with share-based equity awards granted in the second quarter of fiscal year 2016.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income, net for the fiscal year 2017 increased $13.0 million to $9.2 million compared to fiscal year 2016. The increase in other income, net was primarily due to a $8.1 million, net decrease in our tax receivable agreement liability related to tax legislation enacted during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017 which lowered the tax rate used to estimate the future tax benefit expected to be realized by us on increased tax basis from previous sales and exchanges of LLC Units by the pre-IPO owners. Included in other income, net was the settlement received from Mastercraft of $2.5 million under the Mastercraft Settlement and License Agreement entered into on May 2, 2017. The decrease in interest expense was primarily related to the change in the fair value of our interest rate swap we entered into on July 1, 2015 and lower interest expense on our term loan which had a lower average principal balance during fiscal year 2017 as compared to fiscal year 2016, primarily as a result of a principal payment of $15.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017.

Income Taxes

Our provision for income taxes for fiscal year 2017 increased $5.8 million, to $17.6 million compared to fiscal year 2016. The increase in our provision for income taxes reflects an increase in pre-tax book income for fiscal year 2017, as our effective tax rate was similar for fiscal year 2017 compared to fiscal year 2016, 36.2% and 36.8%, respectively. The reported effective tax rates differs from the statutory federal income tax rate of 35% primarily due to the impact of the non-controlling interest and state income taxes attributable to the LLC on our share of the LLC's income and also includes the benefit of deductions under Section 199 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Non-controlling interest

Non-controlling interest represents the ownership interests of the members of the LLC other than us and the amount recorded as non-controlling interest in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income is computed by multiplying pre-tax income for fiscal year 2017 by the percentage ownership in the LLC not directly attributable to us. For fiscal years 2017 and 2016, the weighted average non-controlling interest attributable to ownership interests in the LLC not directly attributable to us was 7.0% and 11.1%, respectively.

Comparison of the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2016 to the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2015

Net Sales

Net sales for fiscal year 2016 increased $24.3 million, or 10.6%, to $253.0 million, compared to fiscal year 2015. Included in net sales for fiscal years 2016 and 2015 were net sales of $20.8 million and $14.9 million, respectively, attributable to our Australian operations acquired in October 2014. Unit volume for fiscal year 2016 increased 165 units, or 4.8%, to 3,569 units compared to fiscal year 2015. Of the 165 units added, 89 units were added as a result of our Australian business and the

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remainder of the increase was primarily due to a demand-driven increase in our daily production rate over the prior year, bolstered by the strong demand for new, larger models such as the M235 and 25 LSV, offset by currency-driven challenges in international markets outside of Australia, including Canada. Net sales per unit for fiscal year 2016 increased approximately 5.5% to $70,878 compared to fiscal year 2015, primarily driven by year over year price increases and our increased mix of larger model sales, which carry a higher average selling price, and increased demand for optional features and trailers, partially offset by our Australian operations, which carry a lower average selling price per unit. Net sales per unit in the U.S., excluding sales to our Australia operations, increased 1.9% to $71,311 for fiscal year 2016 as compared to fiscal year 2015. The increase was primarily driven by higher prices on new model year product, the increased mix of larger model sales, and increased demand for optional features and trailers, partially offset by increased discount activity on, among others, international sales to offset the impact of negative foreign currency fluctuations on sales prices attributable to a strengthened U.S. dollar and increased sales of our Axis brand which carry a lower average selling price than our Malibu brand.

Cost of Sales

Cost of sales for fiscal year 2016 increased $18.0 million, or 10.7%, to $186.1 million compared to fiscal year 2015. The increase in cost of sales was due primarily to increased volumes driven by higher throughput at our U.S. operations and the addition of our Australian business in the second quarter of fiscal year 2015. Cost of sales per unit for our U.S. operations on a stand-alone basis increased approximately 6.9% for fiscal year 2016 compared to fiscal year 2015 driven by the mix of larger model sales, which have higher material content and labor hours, and the extension of our warranty period of coverage from three to five years for model year 2016, offset by lower trailer cost per unit created from manufacturing efficiencies.

Gross Profit

Gross profit for fiscal year 2016 increased $6.4 million, or 10.6%, compared to fiscal year 2015. The increase in gross profit resulted primarily from higher volumes. Gross margin for fiscal year 2016 was unchanged at 26.4% compared to fiscal year 2015 as gains associated with our mix of larger model sales, demand-driven increase in optional features and trailers, higher prices on new model year products and production efficiencies around trailer manufacturing, were offset by increased discount activity particularly in international markets due to the impact of a strengthened U.S. dollar on sales prices, and the impact of inclusion of our Australian business where margins have been under pressure from the strength of the U.S. dollar.

Operating Expenses

Selling and marketing expense for fiscal year 2016 increased $0.5 million, or 6.7%, to $7.5 million compared to fiscal year 2015 primarily due to increased event sponsorship. General and administrative expense for fiscal year 2016 increased $1.4 million, or 7.3%, to $21.3 million compared to fiscal year 2015 largely due to a $3.3 million charge related to a judgment rendered against us in the Marine Power litigation (see Note 15 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report), higher payroll related expenses attributed to higher headcount, stock compensation costs, and operating expenses attributable to a full year of activity at our Australian operations, offset by decreases in offering and acquisition related costs. Amortization expense for fiscal year 2016 decreased $0.3 million, or 11.3%, to $2.2 million primarily due to the full amortization in the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 of our dealer relationship intangible acquired in 2006, offset by amortization attributable to intangible assets acquired in the acquisition of our Australian licensee in October 2014.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other expense, net for the fiscal year 2016 increased $4.5 million to $3.8 million compared to fiscal year 2015. The increase in other expense, net was primarily due to a decrease in other income related to the settlement of our patent infringement lawsuit with Nautique in February 2015 and an increase in interest expense associated with our $80.0 million term loan entered into in April 2015, which resulted in higher average outstanding debt for fiscal year 2016 than for fiscal year 2015. The balance of the increase in other expense, net is attributable to an increase in interest expense related to the change in the fair value of our interest rate swap we entered into on July 1, 2015.

Income Taxes

Our provision for income taxes for fiscal year 2016 increased $3.1 million, to $11.8 million compared to fiscal year 2015. The increase in our provision for income taxes reflects an increase in our effective tax rate which was 36.8% for fiscal year 2016 compared to 27.2% for fiscal year 2015. The reported effective tax rates differs from the statutory federal income tax rate of 35% primarily due to the impact of the non-controlling interest, state income taxes attributable to the LLC, and the benefit of deductions under Section 199 of the Internal Revenue Code. Additionally, our effective tax rates also reflect the impact of our share of the LLC's permanent items such as stock-based compensation expense attributable to profits interests. We note that in fiscal year 2015, our effective tax rate was impacted by nondeductible offering costs, acquisition related costs, and the impact

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of an out-of-period tax adjustment associated with benefits recognized for the Tennessee jobs tax credit that are not expected to be recurring in nature.

Non-controlling interest

Non-controlling interest represents the ownership interests of the members of the LLC other than us and the amount recorded as non-controlling interest in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) is computed by multiplying pre-tax income for fiscal year 2016 by the percentage ownership in the LLC not directly attributable to us. For fiscal years 2016 and 2015, the weighted average non-controlling interest attributable to ownership interests in the LLC not directly attributable to us was 11.1% and 36.8%, respectively.

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GAAP Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are non-GAAP financial measures that are used by management as well as by investors, commercial bankers, industry analysts and other users of our financial statements.

We define adjusted EBITDA as net income before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and non-cash, non-recurring or non-operating expenses, including certain professional fees, litigation related expenses, acquisition and integration related expenses, non-cash compensation expense, offering related expenses, expenses related to our engine development initiative, and adjustments to our tax receivable agreement liability. We define adjusted EBITDA margin as adjusted EBITDA divided by net sales. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are not measures of net income as determined by GAAP. Management believes adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin allow investors to evaluate the company’s operating performance and compare our results of operations from period to period on a consistent basis by excluding items that management does not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA to assist in highlighting trends in our operating results without regard to our financing methods, capital structure and non-recurring or non-operating expenses. We exclude the items listed above from net income in arriving at adjusted EBITDA because these amounts can vary substantially from company to company within our industry depending upon accounting methods and book values of assets, capital structures, the methods by which assets were acquired and other factors. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, net income as determined in accordance with GAAP or as an indicator of our liquidity. Certain items excluded from adjusted EBITDA are significant components in understanding and assessing a company’s financial performance, such as a company’s cost of capital and tax structure, as well as the historical costs of depreciable assets. Our presentation of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin should not be construed as an inference that our results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items. Our computations of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.

The following table sets forth a reconciliation of net income as determined in accordance with GAAP to adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin for the periods indicated (dollars in thousands):



	Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
	2017			2016			2015
Net income	$	31,075		$	20,295		$	23,183
Income tax provision	17,593			11,801			8,663
Interest expense	1,559			3,884			954
Depreciation	4,550			3,339			2,427
Amortization	2,198			2,185			2,463
Professional fees and litigation settlements ¹	1,038			1,111			2,654
Marine Power litigation judgment ²	(1,093		)	3,268			—
Acquisition and integration related expenses ³	3,056			401			1,676
Stock-based compensation expense ⁴	1,396			1,947			1,467
Offering related expenses ⁵	—			—			161
Engine development ⁶	2,489			—			—
Adjustment to tax receivable agreement liability ⁷	(8,140		)	—			—
Adjusted EBITDA	$	55,721		$	48,231		$	43,648
Adjusted EBITDA margin	19.8		%	19.1		%	19.1		%

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(1)	Represents legal and advisory fees related to our litigation with Mastercraft, Nautique, and Pacific Coast Marine Windshields Ltd. ("PCMW"), offset by the portion of the $2.3 million settlement received from Nautique for past infringement claims under the Nautique Settlement Agreement entered into on February 6, 2015 and settlement received from Mastercraft under the Mastercraft Settlement and License Agreement entered into on May 2, 2017. For more information about legal proceedings, refer to Note 15 of our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
(2)	Represents a charge recorded in fiscal 2016 related to a judgment rendered against us in connection with a lawsuit by Marine Power, a former engine supplier, on August 18, 2016 and the reduction of that charge to $2.2 million, the amount ultimately settled and paid in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017. For more information, see Note 15 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
(3)	Represents legal, professional, and advisory fees incurred in connection with our acquisition of Cobalt Boats, which was completed on July 6, 2017, and legal, professional, and advisory fees as well as integration costs incurred in connection in with our acquisition of Malibu Boats Pty. Ltd. which was completed on October 23, 2014.
(4)	Represents equity-based incentives awarded to certain of our employees under the Malibu Boats, Inc. Long-Term Incentive Plan and profit interests issued under the previously existing limited liability company agreement of the LLC. See Note 13 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
(5)	Includes legal and advisory costs incurred in connection with our equity offerings and equity tender offer completed in fiscal year 2015. There were no such offerings for fiscal years 2016 or 2017.
(6)	Represents costs incurred in connection with our vertical integration of engines including product development costs and supplier transition performance incentives.
(7)	Represents a decrease in the estimated tax receivable agreement liability stemming from tax legislation enacted during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 which reduced the tax rate applied in computing the future benefit expected to be realized by us on increased tax basis from previous sales and exchanges of LLC Units by the pre-IPO owners. Refer to Note 9 of our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income

We define Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income as net income attributable to Malibu (i) excluding income tax expense, (ii) excluding the effect of non-recurring or non-cash items, (iii) assuming the exchange of all LLC units into shares of Class A Common Stock, which results in the elimination of non-controlling interest in the LLC, and (iv) reflecting an adjustment for income tax expense on fully distributed net income before income taxes at our estimated effective income tax rate. Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income is a non-GAAP financial measure because it represents net income attributable to Malibu Boats, Inc., before non-recurring or non-cash items and the effects of non-controlling interests in the LLC.

We use Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income to facilitate a comparison of our operating performance on a consistent basis from period to period that, when viewed in combination with our results prepared in accordance with GAAP, provides a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business than GAAP measures alone.

We believe Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income assists our board of directors, management and investors in comparing our net income on a consistent basis from period to period because it removes non-cash or non-recurring items, and eliminates the variability of non-controlling interest as a result of member owner exchanges of LLC Units into shares of Class A Common Stock.

In addition, because Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income is susceptible to varying calculations, the Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income measures, as presented in this Annual Report, may differ from and may, therefore, not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

The following table shows the reconciliation of the numerator and denominator for net income available to Class A Common Stock per share to Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income per Share of Class A Common Stock for the periods presented (in thousands except share and per share data):



	Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
	2017			2016		2015
Reconciliation of numerator for net income available to Class A Common Stock per share to Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income per Share of Class A Common Stock:
Net income attributable to Malibu Boats, Inc.	$	28,358		$	18,042	$	14,661
Income tax provision	17,593			11,801		8,663
Professional fees and litigation settlements ¹	1,038			1,111		2,654
Marine Power litigation judgment ²	(1,093		)	3,268		—
Acquisition and integration related expenses ³	3,056			401		1,676
Fair value adjustment for interest rate swap ⁴	(912		)	863		—
Stock-based compensation expense ⁵	1,396			1,947		1,467
Offering related expenses ⁶	—			—		161
Engine development ⁷	2,489			—		—
Adjustment to tax receivable agreement liability ⁸	(8,140		)	—		—
Net income attributable to non-controlling interest ⁹	2,717			2,253		8,522
Fully distributed net income before income taxes	46,502			39,686		37,804
Income tax expense on fully distributed income before income taxes ¹⁰	16,508			14,089		13,420
Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income	$	29,994		$	25,597	$	24,384



	Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
	2017	2016	2015
Reconciliation of denominator for net income available to Class A Common Stock per share to Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income per Share of Class A Common Stock:
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A Common Stock used for basic net income per share:	17,844,774	17,934,580	15,732,531
Adjustments to weighted average shares of Class A Common Stock:
Weighted-average LLC units held by non-controlling unit holders ¹¹	1,338,907	1,407,311	6,194,270
Weighted-average unvested restricted stock awards issued to management ¹²	112,859	48,466	—
Adjusted weighted average shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding used in computing Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income per Share of Class A Common Stock:	19,296,540	19,390,357	21,926,801

The following table shows the reconciliation of net income available to Class A Common Stock per share to Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income per Share of Class A Common Stock for the periods presented:

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	Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
	2017			2016			2015
Net income available to Class A Common Stock per share	$	1.59		$	1.01		$	0.93
Impact of adjustments:
Income tax provision	0.99			0.66			0.55
Professional fees and litigation settlements ¹	0.06			0.06			0.17
Marine Power litigation judgment ²	(0.06		)	0.18			—
Acquisition and integration related expenses ³	0.17			0.02			0.11
Fair value adjustment for interest rate swap ⁴	(0.05		)	0.05			—
Stock-based compensation expense ⁵	0.08			0.11			0.09
Offering related expenses ⁶	—			—			0.01
Engine development ⁷	0.14			—			—
Adjustment to tax receivable agreement liability ⁸	(0.46		)	—			—
Net income attributable to non-controlling interest ⁹	0.15			0.13			0.54
Fully distributed net income per share before income taxes	2.61			2.21			2.40
Impact of income tax expense on fully distributed income before income taxes ¹⁰	(0.92		)	(0.79		)	(0.85		)
Impact of increased share count ¹³	$	(0.13	)	$	(0.11	)	$	(0.44	)
Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income per Share of Class A Common Stock	$	1.56		$	1.32		$	1.11

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(1)	Represents legal and advisory fees related to our litigation with Mastercraft, Nautique and PCMW, offset by the portion of the $2.3 million settlement received from Nautique for past infringement claims under the Nautique Settlement Agreement entered into on February 6, 2015 and settlement received from Mastercraft under the Mastercraft Settlement and License Agreement entered into on May 2, 2017. For more information about legal proceedings, refer to Note 15 of our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
(2)	Represents a charge recorded in fiscal 2016 related to a judgment rendered against us in connection with a lawsuit by Marine Power, a former engine supplier, on August 18, 2016 and the reduction of that charge to $2.2 million, the amount ultimately settled and paid in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017. For more information, see Note 15 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
(3)	Represents legal, professional, and advisory fees incurred in connection with our acquisition of Cobalt Boats, which was completed on July 6, 2017, and legal, professional, and advisory fees as well as integration costs incurred in connection in with our acquisition of Malibu Boats Pty. Ltd. which was completed on October 23, 2014.
(4)	Represents the change in the fair value of our interest rate swap entered into on July 1, 2015.
(5)	Represents equity-based incentives awarded to certain of our employees under the Malibu Boats, Inc. Long-Term Incentive Plan and profit interests issued under the previously existing limited liability company agreement of the LLC. See Note 13 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
(6)	Includes legal and advisory costs incurred in connection with our equity offerings and equity tender offer completed in fiscal year 2015. There were no such offerings for fiscal years 2016 or 2017.
(7)	Represents costs incurred in connection with our vertical integration of engines including product development costs and supplier transition performance incentives.
(8)	Represents a decrease in the estimated tax receivable agreement liability stemming from tax legislation enacted during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 which reduced the tax rate applied in computing the future benefit expected to be realized by us on increased tax basis from previous sales and exchanges of LLC Units by the pre-IPO owners. Refer to Note 9 of our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
(9)	Reflects the elimination of the non-controlling interest in the LLC as if all LLC members had fully exchanged their LLC Units for shares of Class A Common Stock.
(10)	Reflects income tax expense at an estimated normalized annual effective income tax rate of 35.5% of income before income taxes for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2017, 2016 and 2015, assuming the conversion of all LLC Units into shares of Class A Common Stock. The estimated normalized annual effective income tax rate is based on the federal statutory rate plus a blended state rate adjusted for deductions under Section 199 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, state taxes attributable to the LLC, and foreign income taxes attributable to our Australian based subsidiary.
(11)	Represents the weighted average shares outstanding of LLC Units held by non-controlling interests assuming they were exchanged into Class A Common Stock on a one-for-one basis.
(12)	Represents the weighted average unvested restricted stock awards included in outstanding shares during the applicable period that were convertible into Class A Common Stock and granted to members of management
(13)	Reflects impact of increased share counts assuming the exchange of all weighted average shares outstanding of LLC Units into shares of Class A Common Stock and the conversion of all weighted average unvested restricted stock awards included in outstanding shares granted to members of management.

Quarterly Results of Operations

The table below sets forth our unaudited quarterly consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income data for each of the eight quarters through the period ended June 30, 2017. The unaudited quarterly consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income data were prepared on a basis consistent with the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In the opinion of management, the quarterly financial information reflects all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation of this data. This information should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report. The historical results presented below are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any future period, and the results for any interim period may not necessarily be indicative of the results of operations for a full year. The numbers in this table may not foot due to rounding differences.

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	Three Months Ended (Unaudited)
	June 30, 2017		Mar. 31, 2017		Dec. 31, 2016		Sept. 30, 2016		June 30, 2016		Mar. 31, 2016		Dec. 31, 2015		Sept. 30, 2015
Net sales	$	75,106	$	77,149	$	67,661	$	62,021	$	66,680	$	68,539	$	60,506	$	57,240
Gross profit	20,040		21,362		17,813		15,823		17,825		18,406		15,879		14,710
Operating income	7,965		13,026		11,661		6,786		7,825		11,825		8,979		7,275
Net income	10,266		8,846		7,737		4,226		4,090		6,507		5,718		3,980
Net income attributable to non-controlling interest	602		833		836		446