American Axle and Manufacturing (AXL) stated that it anticipates a profit in the fourth quarter of 2009. With this, the auto components manufacturer would report its second profitable quarter in about two years.
American Axle expects sales of $1.5 billion in 2009, close to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.54 billion. The news prompted the share price to rise more than 7% after the market closed on Wednesday (and pulled back 2% today).
American Axle had posted a net loss of 18 cents (before special items) in the third quarter of the year. This was better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 37 cents per share.
Net sales dipped 22% to $409.6 million in the quarter. However, in absolute terms, it was the highest quarterly sales of 2009. The lower sales were on the back of an 18% decline in customer production volumes for the North American light truck and sport utility vehicle (SUV) programs that the company currently supports for GM and Chrysler.
American Axle is a Detroit-based company and a leader in the supply of driveline systems, modules and components for the light vehicle market. The company manufactures axles, driveshafts and chassis components for light trucks, SUVs and passenger cars.
On account of its strong reliance on General Motors and Chrysler, American Axle has been hit hard by their bankruptcies. We continue to recommend the shares of the company as Neutral.
Read the full analyst report on “AXL”
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