Segment Data

12 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2023

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 the company's chief operating decision maker organizes segments for making operating and investment decisions and assessing performance. The company has identified twelve operating segments and has aggregated certain of those operating 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; brine ice control products; 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 and other users, including homeowners, 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 primarily 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, string trimmers, and underground, hose, and hose-end retail irrigation products. 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 consists of the company's wholly-owned domestic distribution company, certain corporate activities, and the elimination of intersegment revenues and expenses. Corporate activities include general corporate expenditures (finance, human resources, legal, information technology, 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 company, certain 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 (dollars in millions):

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2023	Professional		Residential		Other		Total
Net sales	$	3,674.6	$	854.2	$	24.4	$	4,553.2
Intersegment gross sales (eliminations)	45.8		0.2		(46.0)		—
Earnings (loss) before income taxes1	509.1		68.9		(177.5)		400.5
Total assets	2,679.6		565.1		399.6		3,644.3
Capital expenditures	79.9		45.6		24.0		149.5
Depreciation and amortization	$	89.3	$	14.9	$	15.0	$	119.2

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022	Professional		Residential		Other		Total
Net sales	$	3,429.6	$	1,068.6	$	16.5	$	4,514.7
Intersegment gross sales (eliminations)	33.5		0.1		(33.6)		—
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	584.0		112.7		(144.2)		552.5
Total assets	2,702.8		501.6		351.6		3,556.0
Capital expenditures	94.3		31.0		18.2		143.5
Depreciation and amortization	$	82.7	$	13.0	$	13.1	$	108.8

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021	Professional		Residential		Other		Total
Net sales	$	2,929.6	$	1,010.1	$	19.9	$	3,959.6
Intersegment gross sales (eliminations)	30.5		—		(30.5)		—
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	507.3		121.5		(129.0)		499.8
Total assets	2,032.4		388.2		515.5		2,936.1
Capital expenditures	79.5		16.7		7.8		104.0
Depreciation and amortization	$	73.7	$	13.5	$	12.1	$	99.3

1    The Professional reportable segment earnings (loss) before income taxes includes $151.3 million of non-cash impairment charges recorded during the preparation of the financial statements for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 related to the Intimidator operating segment. For additional information regarding the impairment charges, refer to Note 5, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets.

During fiscal 2023 and 2022, no customers accounted for 10.0 percent or more of total consolidated gross sales. During fiscal 2021, sales to one customer in the Residential segment accounted for 10.6 percent of total consolidated gross sales.

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

Fiscal Years Ended October 31	2023		2022		2021
Corporate expenses	$	(151.8)	$	(126.3)	$	(112.4)
Interest expense	(58.7)		(35.7)		(28.7)
Earnings from the company's wholly-owned domestic distribution company and other income, net	33.0		17.8		12.1
Total operating loss	$	(177.5)	$	(144.2)	$	(129.0)

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 (dollars in millions):

Fiscal Years Ended October 31	United States		International Countries		Total
2023
Net sales	$	3,605.5	$	947.7	$	4,553.2
Long-lived assets	$	540.4	$	101.3	$	641.7
2022
Net sales	$	3,635.5	$	879.2	$	4,514.7
Long-lived assets	$	505.9	$	65.8	$	571.7
2021
Net sales	$	3,132.0	$	827.6	$	3,959.6
Long-lived assets	$	440.5	$	47.2	$	487.7