What happened
Autoliv (ALV 0.45%) was far from the most attractive auto industry stock on Friday. The specialty auto parts supplier's shares were down by almost 7% in late afternoon trading, following the release of its latest set of quarterly figures.
So what
For its inaugural quarter of 2022, Autoliv -- which reports in U.S. dollars despite being based in Sweden -- earned $2.12 billion in net sales. That was more than 5% below the same period last year. Net income saw a much steeper fall, plummeting by nearly 50% to $83 million, or $0.94 per share. On a non-GAAP (adjusted) basis, the latter figure was $0.45.
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That represented a big miss on the bottom line for Autoliv, since analysts tracking the auto industry stock were expecting adjusted per-share net income of $1.18. As for net sales, they were anticipating the company would reap $2.23 billion.
In its earnings release, Autoliv explained that the steep decline in profitability was "due to significant operating margin headwind from higher costs related mainly to raw materials but also related to supply chain disruptions, [light vehicle production] volatility and high level of premium freight, all of which have been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and lock downs in China."
Now what
Better times are ahead for Autoliv, at least according to the full-year 2022 guidance it proffered in the earnings release. The company believes it will improve its organic sales by 12% to 17% this year, with 5.5% to 7% improvement in adjusted operating margin. It also expects its operating cash flow to come in at $750 million to $850 million. It did not provide any forecast for net income.
