Autoliv Inc. ALV reported second-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $1.87 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.44 and fell 3% year over year. The company reported net sales of $2.61 billion in the quarter, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.77 million and fell 1.1% year over year.
Organic sales rose 0.7% year over year but missed our estimate of 5.6% due to lower light vehicle production in the Americas and China. Autoliv reported adjusted operating income of $221 million, up 4.4% year over year. Adjusted operating margin was 8.5%, higher than 8% in the year-ago period, driven by cost reduction efforts and increased pricing.
Autoliv, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Autoliv, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Autoliv, Inc. Quote
Segmental Performance
Sales in the Airbags and Associated Products segment totaled $1.75 billion, lagging our projection of $1.87 billion. Revenues fell 0.6% on a year-over-year basis. The major categories within the segment that reported a decline in organic sales include passenger airbags and knee airbags.
Sales in the Seatbelts and Associated Products segment totaled $858 million, down 2.2% from the prior-year quarter and missed our projection of $909 million. The decline in organic sales in the Americas and China contributed to the year-over-year decrease.
Region-wise, overall sales in the Americas during the quarter under review totaled $893 million, which missed our estimate of $971.3 million and decreased 2.6% year over year.
Sales in Europe totaled $761 million, missing our forecast of $787.7 million but increasing 1.4% year over year.
Sales in China came in at $468 million, missing our projection of $525.3 million and falling 5.9% year over year.
Sales in the Rest of Asia totaled $483 million, up 2.6% year over year but missed our projection of $498 million.
Financial Position
Autoliv had cash and cash equivalents of $408 million as of Jun 30, 2024. Long-term debt totaled $1.54 billion. Operating cash flow in the quarter under review was $340 million and capital expenditure amounted to $146 million, resulting in a free cash flow of $194 million. In the quarter, ALV paid a dividend of 68 cents per share and repurchased $1.31 million shares.
Revised 2024 Guidance
The company now forecasts full-year 2024 organic sales growth of around 2%, down from the earlier expectation of 5%. The adjusted operating margin is anticipated in the range of 9.5-10%, down from the previous projection of 10.5%. Operating cash flow is now expected to be $1.1 billion in 2024, down from the previous projection of $1.2 billion.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
ALV currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the auto space are Suzuki Motor Corporation SZKMY, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. HMC and American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. AXL, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The consensus estimate for SZKMY’s 2025 earnings suggests year-over-year growth of 2.09%. EPS estimates for 2025 and 2026 have improved 38 cents and 15 cents, respectively, in the past 60 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HMC’s 2025 sales and earnings suggests year-over-year growth of 0.73%. EPS estimates for 2025 have improved 10 cents in the past 60 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AXL’s 2024 sales and earnings suggests year-over-year growth of 3.05% and 544.44%, respectively. EPS estimates for 2024 have moved up 2 cents in the past 60 days. The same for 2025 has moved up 5 cents in the past 30 days.
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