Garmin Q2 2026 Earnings: Record Revenue, Fitness Up 25%, Share Price Jumps 17%

Garmin’s share price skyrocketed on a day when the wider market was flat. Why? Mainly, the previous analyst expectations were well and truly trounced due in part to technical reasons (tariff refunds, higher margins) but also to a whopping rise in the performance of the fitness division, which includes the Forerunner watches. Even better, Garmin’s execs confirmed that CIRQA had effectively sold out at launch, hence exceeding expectations. There was, of course, more good news for the future with heavy hints of new outdoor products later this year. That likely means Fenix 9.

Garmin reported record second-quarter revenue of $2.02 billion, up 11% year-on-year, with gross and operating margins expanding across every segment. The market agreed with the numbers this time. GRMN jumped as much as 17% in premarket trading to $296.76, and the gain extended through the session toward a new closing high near $302. That is a sharp turnaround from the tepid reaction that followed Garmin’s Q1 release three months earlier.

Every segment expanded gross margin against the prior-year quarter. Pro forma EPS of $2.81 rose 29% year on year, and the earnings beat outran the revenue beat by a wide margin, a sign that mix and cost discipline did more work than volume alone.

Fitness: Revenue increased 25% to $757 million, a new second-quarter record, with growth across every product category led by continued demand for advanced wearables. Gross and operating margins expanded to 64% and 37%, respectively, producing $277 million of operating income. The quarter included the launches of the Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170 and the announcement of the CIRQA Smart Band, a screenless wearable that adds wellness and readiness tracking without requiring a subscription. Garmin continues to expect Fitness will be the strongest contributor to full-year 2026 growth.

• Outdoor: Revenue fell 2% to $483 million, with the decline concentrated in the consumer auto and adventure watch product categories. Gross and operating margins still expanded, to 69% and 34% respectively, delivering $164 million of operating income despite the softer top line. Garmin expects a stronger back half for Outdoor as new products reach the market, improving full-year growth against 2025.

Geographically, Q2 growth was led by EMEA at 13%, followed by the Americas at 12% and APAC at 7%. All three regions grew, a broader spread than Q1, when APAC led at 25% on favourable currency effects that have since faded from the year-on-year comparison.

Garmin’s cash position held broadly steady, ending Q2 with cash and marketable securities of approximately $4.4 billion. Free cash flow for the quarter was $276 million, up $148 million on Q1. The company paid $202 million in dividends and bought back $43 million of stock during the quarter, with $448 million remaining on the share repurchase programme through December 2028. Capital expenditure rose to $128 million, reflecting the build-out of the new Thailand manufacturing site.

Against Expectations

Q1 taught readers of this site that a strong Garmin quarter does not guarantee a strong share price reaction. Q2 corrected that lesson. Pro forma EPS of $2.81 beat consensus by more than 20%, a wider margin than the revenue beat of roughly 4%, and management raised full-year revenue guidance to about $8.05 billion and EPS guidance to $10.00, up from $7.9 billion and $9.35, respectively.

Where Q1’s flat guidance left investors waiting for confirmation that strength would continue, Q2’s raise supplied it directly, and did so with the memory-cost headwind already built into the new numbers rather than left as an open question.

These figures were captured on results day.

My Personal Take: Almost everything seemed to go right for Garmin this quarter but even the one area for concern, Outdoor, held the tantalising prospect of Fenix 9 mere monhts away (expectations of this site). Garmin’s long-run trajectory looks solid.

Fitness as the Engine: Every Category Contributes

Fitness revenue of $757 million represents 25% growth, a step down from Q1’s 42% but still the fastest-growing segment by a wide margin and the one Garmin expects to carry 2026’s consolidated growth. Every product category within Fitness contributed to the quarter, and margin expansion to 64% gross and 37% operating reflects a mix increasingly weighted toward advanced wearables rather than entry-level devices.

The CIRQA Smart Band launched during the quarter at the confirmed $199.99 price and has already sold through its initial production run, with Garmin quoting five- to eight-week shipping delays on new orders. The company said demand outran its own expectations from the earliest days of registration.

The TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic acquisitions, completed earlier in July, now sit inside the Fitness segment. Pemble described the rationale in product terms rather than cost terms: devices record training data, TrainingPeaks routes it to a coach, and the coach’s guidance feeds back into the athlete’s plan. That closes a loop Garmin has been assembling piece by piece since the Firstbeat and MYLAPS acquisitions.

What’s Coming Next

Garmin’s Thailand manufacturing facility is on track for completion by the end of 2026, with an initial phase of around 400,000 square feet that management says has the potential to double the company’s total manufacturing capacity over time. Utilisation begins in early 2027. Management described the facility as a step toward manufacturing diversification and additional capacity options, not tied to any single product programme.

Garmin has also flagged higher memory component costs as a second-half headwind, one it says is already reflected in the raised guidance rather than a risk to it. Management described its approach to memory costs as a repeat of the playbook used against tariffs earlier in the year: absorb what can be absorbed, and protect margin rather than chase volume at any cost.

Outdoor: A Narrower Decline

Outdoor revenue fell 2% to $483 million, an improvement on Q1’s 5% decline though still the segment’s third negative quarter in the past four. Along with consumer auto,  Garmin named the adventure watch category as the specific drag, language that points at the Fenix and Instinct lines rather than the golf or dog-tracking businesses that also sit inside Outdoor. Margins held up regardless: gross margin at 69% and operating margin at 34% are both higher than Fitness, and operating income of $164 million was down only modestly against a stronger prior-year comparable.

Garmin expects Outdoor to strengthen in the back half of the year as new products reach the market, language that echoes the same forward guidance the company gave after Q1, when Outdoor also fell short. Whatever the specific launches turn out to be, the second half is now carrying the weight of the segment’s full-year recovery for a second consecutive quarter running.

Positive Note: If ever it were needed, this is the impetus for Garmin to give us the best possible Fenix 9 they can. Roll on Q3!

Key Takeaways for Garmin’s Future

• Fitness remains the growth engine. A quarter of 25% growth, with every product category contributing, keeps Fitness as the segment carrying Garmin’s consolidated growth story for 2026.
• The market believed the raise. A guidance increase of this size, delivered alongside an EPS beat that outran the revenue beat, is the combination that moved the share price where three prior quarters of strong results did not.
• Outdoor is stabilising, not yet recovering. A narrower decline than Q1 is progress, but Garmin has now pointed to back-half product launches as the fix for two consecutive quarters.
• Memory costs are the next test. Management says the headwind is already priced into guidance, but the second half will be the first quarter where it actually shows up in the numbers.
• Auto OEM has a gap to cross. Revenue and operating income are expected to fall in the back half as BMW volumes peak, with the Mercedes-Benz programme not due to ramp until early 2027.
• TrainingPeaks closes a data loop. Management framed the acquisition around linking device, coach and athlete data rather than around cost synergies, consistent with the site’s earlier analysis of the deal.

Story Leads From the Analyst Briefing

A handful of exchanges from the call point toward stories beyond this quarter’s numbers.

• Wearables beyond the wrist. Asked directly whether Garmin intends to expand into wearable form factors beyond the wrist, Pemble declined to comment on the roadmap but did not rule it out, and Boessen added that further new products should be expected. Neither exec named a category, but the question itself signals that analysts are now pricing in the possibility.
• The golf data report. Garmin’s own Trends in Golf Data Report, released alongside the results, found that participation in the sport is up and that players are improving across nearly every shot category. The report has not been covered on this site and stands as its own short data piece independent of the earnings themselves.

Sources & Resources

• Garmin Share Price
• Nasdaq
• Garmin Q2 2026 Earnings Press Release
• Garmin Official Site

Garmin Q1.2026 Earnings – “Fenix, we’ve got a problem”

Why Garmin’s Forerunner (Fitness) Division Just Caused a 20% Jump in Garmin’s Share Price – Q4 2025 Earnings Analysis

Garmin Q3 2025 Earnings: Fitness Explodes, Fenix 8 Pro Underwhelms

explosive Garmin Q2 Earnings – significant Forerunner 970 contribution (2025)

For the complete Garmin Fenix series guide, covering all current models, history and buying advice: Garmin Fenix hub.

Last Updated on 30 July 2026 by the5krunner

the5krunner

tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID