Autoliv Inc. (NYSE:ALV) posted first-quarter results on Friday that came in ahead of market expectations.
Adjusted earnings per share were $2.05, topping the consensus forecast of $1.84, while revenue reached $2.75 billion, above estimates of $2.61 billion. Net sales rose 6.8% year-on-year, supported by 0.8% organic growth that significantly outpaced the 3.4% decline in global light vehicle production.
Asia played a central role in the company’s performance, with organic sales in India climbing 38% and exceeding local vehicle production growth by 28 percentage points, reflecting higher safety content per vehicle.
In China, Autoliv also outperformed overall light vehicle production by 15 percentage points, with particularly strong gains among domestic original equipment manufacturers, where performance exceeded production by 40 percentage points. Gross profit increased 10%, aided by cost efficiencies and favorable currency effects. However, adjusted operating income slipped 3.9% to $245 million due to temporarily lower research and development reimbursements and one-off benefits recorded in the prior-year period.
Shares advanced 8.9% in premarket trading following the release.
“The first quarter turned out better than we had anticipated, with strong sales in March,” said Mikael Bratt, President and CEO. “Our operational performance exceeded our expectations, with solid productivity improvements, partly supported by reduced call-off volatility.”
For full-year 2026, Autoliv reaffirmed its outlook, expecting roughly flat organic sales growth, a positive foreign exchange impact of about 3% on net sales, and an adjusted operating margin in the range of 10.5% to 11%. The midpoint of 10.75% was not directly compared to analyst consensus forecasts.
The company also projects operating cash flow of around $1.2 billion and plans to repurchase between $300 million and $500 million worth of shares during 2026. Its leverage ratio stood at 1.3x, comfortably below its target ceiling of 1.5x.