By Adriano Marchese
BRP shares slid Wednesday after the powersports maker said sweeping U.S. tariff changes will saddle the company with sharply higher import costs, pressuring margins and clouding its outlook.
Shares fell 35% on Wednesday, to 70.64 Canadian dollars ($51.31).
The Valcourt, Quebec-based maker of Ski-Doo and Sea-Doo vehicles said the hit stems from an expansion of U.S. Section 232 tariffs that took effect on April 6, which now apply a 25% duty on the full value of goods containing aluminum, steel and copper, not just the metal content itself. For BRP, this means the majority of its off-road vehicles and snowmobiles are caught in full.
The company estimates the potential incremental tariff cost related to the amendment to be in excess of $500 million Canadian dollars, the equivalent of $363.1 million, for the remainder of the year, before any mitigation measures that could partially offset the impact.
BRP suspended its fiscal 2027 guidance, which previously estimated revenue growth between C$8.9 billion and C$9.15 billion, as well as a jump in net income for the year.
"The size of the cost impact fundamentally changes the profitability profile for BRP and injects a high degree of uncertainty into the outlook," National Bank of Canada analyst Cameron Doerksen said.
The uncertainty is compounded by the fluid state of the USMCA renegotiations, with Canada, Mexico and the U.S. in active talks over the trade pact that replaced NAFTA in 2020.
The day's decline marks the stock's steepest single-day drop in a decade, surpassed only by a sharp selloff in March when pandemic-era restrictions first froze demand and disrupted global supply chains.
BRP Chief Executive Denis Le Vot said late Tuesday he expects the business will be able to manage through the challenge, and Doerksen noted that BRP's balance sheet remains on solid footing with a lighter debt load and C$427 million of cash on hand.
"Like many manufacturers, we are operating in a highly volatile and unpredictable tariff environment that continues to create uncertainty across the market," Le Vot said.
Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 15, 2026 11:45 ET (15:45 GMT)
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