Garmin management check
GRMN · Consumer Discretionary · Consumer Electronics · CEO Clifton A. Pemble
Filings as of
4 good · 3 to watch · 0 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $191, against $154 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.72 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.5% of net income$7.7m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $1.7bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 4.7 years of payThe CEO holds 120,127 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 4.7 years of pay. 7 insiders sold $5.7m in the last six months and none bought. 5 of 19 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Watch
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +0.4% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 2.3% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
3 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Clifton A. Pemble. 3 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Watch
Are the books clean?
An annual report was amendedNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021. 1 amended annual report.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Consumer Discretionary.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 80 | 70 | |
| Pay for performance | 86 | 79 | |
| CEO cost | 78 | 44 | |
| Skin in the game | 48 | 36 | |
| Dilution | 45 | 74 | |
| Stable leadership | 100 | 80 | |
| Clean books | 70 | 100 |
Closest peers
Nearest in rank in Consumer Discretionary, by management score. Garmin is 19th of 47 in its sector.
- 140ULTAUlta Beauty73
- 144GRMNGarmin72
- 159NVRNVR, Inc.72
- 160LVSLas Vegas Sands72
- 164ORLYO'Reilly Automotive71
- 174FFord Motor Company71
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed April 22, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Clifton A. Pemble | $7.7m | $7.8m | $2.7m | $191 | $154 | $1.7bn |
| 2024 | Clifton A. Pemble | $7.2m | $18.1m | $2.4m | $191 | $145 | $1.4bn |
| 2023 | Clifton A. Pemble | $6.5m | $10.7m | $2.1m | $115 | $112 | $1.3bn |
| 2022 | Clifton A. Pemble | $4.6m | $901k | $1.9m | $81 | $78 | $973.6m |
| 2021 | Clifton A. Pemble | $4.2m | $6.0m | $1.7m | $114 | $124 | $1.1bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Operating income. Its other key measures: Revenue, Operating Income.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Clifton A Pemble (President and CEO) held 120,127 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Jul 29, 2026, roughly $36.0m at that filing's price.
7 insiders sold $5.7m in the last six months and none bought. 5 of 19 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- SoldCheng-Wei WangGeneral Manager - Garmin Corp.$3.0mAug 18, 2026
- SoldClifton A PemblePresident and CEO · 10b5-1 plan$1.2mJul 29, 2026
- SoldDouglas G. BoessenCFO and Treasurer · 10b5-1 plan$476kJun 5, 2026
- SoldJoshua H MaxfieldVP, General Counsel$335kJul 31, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Nov 29, 2024Annual report amended10-K/A
- Jun 24, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 11, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 8, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 12, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 13, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Jun 8, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $3.0bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 46% of net income, and $573.9m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $5.0bn | $4.9bn | $5.2bn | $6.3bn | $7.2bn |
| Net income | $1.1bn | $973.6m | $1.3bn | $1.4bn | $1.7bn |
| Stock-based pay | $92.5m | $76.8m | $101.4m | $137.2m | $166.0m |
| Buybacks | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends | $491.5m | $679.1m | $558.8m | $572.4m | $663.9m |
| Diluted shares | 0m | 193m | 192m | 193m | 194m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.