STOCKHOLM, April 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — (NYSE:ALV) (SSE: ALIV.sdb)
Q1 2026: Solid operational performance and sales
Financial highlights Q1 2026
$2,753 million net sales, increase of 6.8%
0.8% organic sales growth*
8.6% operating margin, 8.9% adj. operating margin*
$1.88 diluted EPS, 12% decrease
Full year 2026 guidance
Around 0% organic sales growth
Around 3% positive FX impact on net sales
Around 10.5-11% adjusted operating margin
Around $1.2 billion operating cash flow
All change figures in this release compare to the same period of the previous year except when stated otherwise.
Key business developments in the first quarter of 2026
- Net sales increased organically* by 0.8%, which was 4.2pp higher than the global LVP decrease of 3.4% (S&P Global Apr 2026) driven mainly by strong progress in Asia. Regional and customer LVP mix is estimated to have impacted sales positively by about 1.5pp, while tariff compensations added around 0.5pp. Our organic sales growth* outperformed LVP significantly in China (15pp) and Asia excl. China (6.8pp) and performed in line in EMEA and underperformed in Americas (4.5pp). Our strong performance in Asia excl. China was mainly due to India, where we outperformed by 28pp, driven by continued strong market growth in safety content per vehicle, while our China performance was mainly driven by further improved presence with Chinese OEMs.
- Profitability was strong. Supported by successful execution of cost reductions and positive FX effects, gross profit increased by 10%. Operating income decreased by 6.7% and adjusted operating income* decreased by 3.9%, impacted by adverse FX translation effects and temporary lower R,D&E reimbursements as well as that Q1 2025 was positively impacted by one-time effects. Operating margin was 8.6% and adjusted operating margin* was 8.9%. ROCE was 22.2% and adjusted ROCE* was 22.9%.
- Operating cash flow was negative $76 million, mainly due to an increase in working capital due to strong sales in March, temporary effects expected to reverse later in the year and the high level of accounts payable at the end of 2025. Free operating cash flow* thereby decreased to negative $159 million. The leverage ratio* was unchanged compared to a year ago at 1.3x, below our target limit of 1.5x. In the quarter, a dividend of $0.87 per share was paid.
*For Non-GAAP measures see enclosed reconciliation tables.
Key Figures
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(Dollars in millions, except per share data) |