Segment Data

12 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2020

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment Data

3 Segment Data

The company's businesses are organized, managed, and internally grouped into segments based on similarities in products and services. Segment selection is based on the manner in which management organizes segments for making operating and investment decisions and assessing performance. The company has identified eleven operating segments and has aggregated certain of those segments into two reportable segments: Professional and Residential. The aggregation of the company's segments is based on the segments having the following similarities: economic characteristics, types of products and services, types of production processes, type or class of customers, and method of distribution. The company's remaining activities are presented as "Other" due to their insignificance.

The Professional reportable business segment consists of turf and landscape equipment; rental, specialty, and underground construction equipment; snow and ice management equipment; and irrigation and lighting products. Turf and landscape equipment products include sports fields and grounds mowing and maintenance equipment, golf course mowing and maintenance equipment, landscape contractor mowing equipment, landscape creation and renovation equipment, and other maintenance equipment. Rental, specialty, and underground construction equipment products include horizontal directional drills, walk and ride trenchers, stand-on skid steers, vacuum excavators, stump grinders, turf renovation products, asset locators, pipe rehabilitation solutions, materials handling equipment, and other after-market tools. Snow and ice management equipment products primarily include snowplows; stand-on snow and ice removal equipment, including the related snowplow, snow brush, and snow thrower attachments; salt and sand spreaders; and related parts and accessories for light and medium duty trucks, utility task vehicles, skid steers, and front-end loaders. Irrigation and lighting products consist of sprinkler heads, electric and hydraulic valves, controllers, computer irrigation central control systems, coupling systems, and ag-irrigation drip tape and hose products, as well as professionally installed landscape lighting products offered through distributors and landscape contractors that also purchase irrigation products. Professional reportable business segment products are marketed and sold mainly through a network of distributors and dealers to professional users engaged in maintaining golf courses, sports fields, municipal properties, agricultural fields, residential and commercial landscapes, and removing snow and ice, as well as directly to government customers, rental companies, and large retailers.

The Residential reportable business segment consists of walk power mowers, zero-turn riding mowers, snow throwers, replacement parts, and home solutions products, including grass trimmers, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, blower-vacuums, chainsaws, Power Shovels, string trimmers, and underground, hose, and hose-end retail irrigation products sold in Australia and New Zealand. Residential reportable

business segment products are marketed and sold to homeowners through a network of distributors and dealers, and through a broad array of home centers, hardware retailers, and mass retailers, as well as online.

The company's Other activities consist of the company's wholly-owned domestic distribution companies, the company's corporate activities, and the elimination of intersegment revenues and expenses. Corporate activities include general corporate expenditures (finance, human resources, legal, information services, public relations, business development, and similar activities) and other unallocated corporate assets and liabilities, such as corporate facilities and deferred tax assets and liabilities.

The accounting policies of the reportable business segments are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies in Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Related Data. The company evaluates the performance of its Professional and Residential reportable business segment results based on earnings from operations plus other income, net. The reportable business segment's operating profits or losses include direct costs incurred at the reportable business segment's operating level plus allocated expenses, such as profit sharing and manufacturing expenses. The allocated expenses represent costs that these operations would have incurred otherwise, but do not include general corporate expenses, interest expense, and income taxes. Operating loss for the company's Other activities includes earnings (loss) from the company's domestic wholly-owned distribution companies, corporate activities, other income, and interest expense. The company accounts for intersegment gross sales at current market prices.

The following tables present summarized financial information concerning the company's reportable business segments and Other activities (in thousands):

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020	Professional		Residential		Other		Total
Net sales	$	2,523,452	$	820,745	$	34,613	$	3,378,810
Intersegment gross sales (eliminations)	46,703		80		(46,783)		—
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	426,560		113,669		(133,159)		407,070
Total assets	1,940,844		282,061		630,323		2,853,228
Capital expenditures	49,975		13,669		14,424		78,068
Depreciation and amortization	$	70,460	$	12,607	$	12,548	$	95,615

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2019	Professional		Residential		Other		Total
Net sales	$	2,443,448	$	661,274	$	33,362	$	3,138,084
Intersegment gross sales (eliminations)	59,453		310		(59,763)		—
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	380,914		65,151		(123,932)		322,133
Total assets	1,592,065		430,495		307,987		2,330,547
Capital expenditures	57,246		16,970		18,665		92,881
Depreciation and amortization	$	63,885	$	11,897	$	11,916	$	87,698

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2018	Professional		Residential		Other		Total
Net sales	$	1,946,999	$	654,413	$	17,238	$	2,618,650
Intersegment gross sales (eliminations)	29,798		312		(30,110)		—
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	399,806		64,807		(92,216)		372,397
Total assets	916,106		199,273		455,605		1,570,984
Capital expenditures	58,109		16,014		16,001		90,124
Depreciation and amortization	$	38,585	$	9,999	$	12,693	$	61,277

During fiscal 2020, 2019, and 2018 no customer accounted for 10.0 percent or more of total consolidated gross sales.

The following table presents the details of operating loss before income taxes for the company's Other activities (in thousands):

Fiscal Years Ended October 31	2020		2019		2018
Corporate expenses	$	(108,396)	$	(124,422)	$	(92,541)
Interest expense	(33,156)		(28,835)		(19,096)
Earnings from wholly-owned domestic distribution companies and other income, net	8,393		29,325		19,421
Total operating loss	$	(133,159)	$	(123,932)	$	(92,216)

The following table presents net sales for groups of similar products and services (in thousands):

Fiscal Years Ended October 31	2020		2019		2018
Equipment	$	2,985,295	$	2,747,935	$	2,210,047
Irrigation and lighting	393,515		390,149		408,603
Total net sales	$	3,378,810	$	3,138,084	$	2,618,650

The following geographic area data includes net sales based on product shipment destination and long-lived assets, which consist of property, plant and equipment, net, and is based on physical location in addition to allocated capital tooling from U.S. plant facilities (in thousands):

Fiscal Years Ended October 31	United States		International Countries		Total
2020
Net sales	$	2,700,694	$	678,116	$	3,378,810
Long-lived assets	$	426,378	$	41,541	$	467,919
2019
Net sales	$	2,413,153	$	724,931	$	3,138,084
Long-lived assets	$	395,937	$	41,380	$	437,317
2018
Net sales	$	1,975,562	$	643,088	$	2,618,650
Long-lived assets	$	230,246	$	41,213	$	271,459