Autoliv reports Q1 adjusted EPS $2.05, consensus $2.35

Reports revenue $2.75B, consensus $2.72B. CEO Mikael Bratt said, “The first quarter turned out better than we had anticipated, with strong sales in March. Our operational performance exceeded our expectations, with solid productivity improvements, partly supported by reduced call-off volatility. Underlying profitability improved, with gross profit increasing by 10%, although adjusted operating income was slightly lower due to temporary lower R,D&E reimbursements and the one-time income in Q1 last year. Our positive trend in Asia continued, with strong growth in India, South Korea and China. In China, we continued to grow faster than LVP, especially with the Chinese OEMs, outperforming by 40pp. In India, we grew sales organically by 38%, reflecting mainly the trend of increased safety content in vehicles in India, as well as the continued high level of LVP growth. We continue to expand our production capabilities in India, investing in additional inflator production capacity for future growth. I am pleased that we in the quarter introduced our first airbag for motorcycles, as well as our first wearable airbag solution for motorcycle riders, building on our long term strategy of growing business outside our traditional core business. The quarter was characterized by ongoing and new geopolitical challenges. At this point, it is difficult to fully assess the likely impacts, as the situation remains fluid. We continue to carefully monitor the developments while preparing for various scenarios, including different mitigation strategies. The business environment is uncertain but our current best estimate for the remainder of the year is a re-iteration of our full year 2026 guidance of about unchanged organic sales and an adjusted operating margin of around 10.5-11%. This is based on the assumption that LVP will decline by around 1%. Our balance sheet is healthy, with debt leverage of 1.3x, well below our target limit of 1.5x. Based on our guidance for sales and adjusted operating margin, we continue to expect strong cash flow for the year, which supports our ambitions to provide attractive shareholder returns, including to repurchase shares of $300-500 million in 2026.”