Flyover Stock: Garmin (GRMN)
The maker of GPS, navigation, and monitoring equipment fits the Flyover Stock mold in more ways than one.
In which U.S. state is Garmin headquartered? I’ll give you three guesses.
Got them?
California seems like a natural choice, but that’s incorrect.
Maybe a state with a lot of elite colleges like Massachusetts? Nope.
And, no, it’s not Ohio.
While Garmin has been domiciled in Switzerland since 2010 for reasons discussed below, the company’s headquarters and home is in Olathe, Kansas - a suburb of Kansas City.
Because they weren’t spawned in the usual places like Silicon Valley or Boston, the backstories of Midwestern technology companies like Jack Henry and Garmin are rich and overlooked. They often feature niche expertise, customer obsession, and a strong work ethic along with a long-term focus.
That’s an attractive combination.
Thanks to its central location, flat terrain, and open skies, Kansas has been a hub of American aviation for over a century. Some of the most famous aircraft brands like Cessna, Beechcraft, and Stearman trace their roots to this region. During World War II, McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita was the home of B-29 Superfortress construction.
Following World War II, capital continued to flow to the Kansas aviation industry. King Radio was one of the avionics (i.e. aviation + electronics) companies that sprouted up during this period and it was at King Radio that Gary Burrell and Min Kao worked together before founding Garmin (“Gar” from Gary plus “Min”) in 1989.
The two founders saw the potential for Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and some of their early products were used by U.S. servicemen during the Gulf War. In 1993, Garmin launched the GPS 95 - the world’s first portable GPS unit for aviation.
Fast forward 32 years and Garmin is a $40 billion company and has expanded beyond avionics (now its 4th-largest segment by revenue) to include fitness, outdoor, marine, and automotive products.
Let’s take a closer look at how that happened and what might be next for Garmin.
Paid subscribers, your content - including moat, management, and valuation analysis - continues below.
Todd Wenning is the founder of KNA Capital Management, LLC, an Ohio-registered investment advisor that manages a concentrated equity strategy and provides other investment-related services.
At the time of publication, Todd, his immediate family, KNA Capital Management, LLC and/or its clients own shares of Apple.
Please see important disclaimers.