Daimler Truck 2025 Stock Price Rises Despite Profit Decline, Guidance Meets Expectations

Investing.com - Daimler Trucks’ stock price rose over 4% on Thursday, with the German truck manufacturer’s profit guidance for 2026 considered largely in line with expectations after excluding its planned Asian operations, offsetting a 19% decline in full-year profits.

The company announced an adjusted full-year group EBIT of €3.78 billion, below the €4.67 billion in 2024. Earnings per share dropped from €3.64 to €2.56. The company proposed to maintain the dividend at €1.90 per share for the second consecutive year.

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Industrial business revenue declined 10% to €45.9 billion. Free cash flow fell 42% from €3.15 billion to €1.82 billion.

Chief Financial Officer Eva Scherer said, “We delivered solid financial results in 2025, with an adjusted sales return of 7.8% and strong net industrial liquidity reaching €7.7 billion.”

North America, the largest revenue segment, saw full-year adjusted EBIT decrease 35% to €1.998 billion, with unit sales down 26% to 141,814 vehicles, and profit margins shrinking from 12.9% to 10.7%.

North American EBIT in the fourth quarter was €307 million, surpassing analyst consensus of €198 million. Orders in the region grew 6% despite a 17% market decline, which Jefferies analysts attributed to customers ordering early ahead of expected tariff-related price increases.

For 2026, the company provided a group adjusted EBIT guidance of €3.2 billion to €3.7 billion, excluding its Truck Asia segment, as Mitsubishi Fuso is planned to be spun off into a new holding company, ARCHION Corporation, effective April 1.

Jefferies rates the stock as “Buy” with a target price of €50. The firm’s calculation shows the median guidance of €3.45 billion is about 4% below the market consensus of €3.6 billion after excluding Asia operations.

The full-year free cash flow guidance is €2.7 billion to €3.2 billion, including an expected €1.5 billion inflow from the Fuso-Hino integration, implying a lower baseline free cash flow than the €1.82 billion generated in 2025.

Scherer stated, “As order momentum increases, we expect the second half to outperform the first half.”

Daimler Buses’ full-year adjusted EBIT grew 39% to €599 million, achieving a double-digit sales return of 10.0% for the first time. Pure electric bus sales increased 67% to 6,726 units.

The company announced it will initiate a share repurchase program in March. The annual shareholders’ meeting is scheduled for May 6, 2026.

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