HYSTER-YALE ANNOUNCES FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR 2025 RESULTS

2025 Highlights and 2026 Outlook: 

• Q4 bookings strengthened significantly, up 42% sequentially and 35% year-over-year, potentially signaling the beginning of demand recovery in the Americas
• Q4 operating cash flow increased to $57 million, driven by improved inventory efficiency
• Tariffs remained a major headwind, reducing Q4 and full‑year revenue and operating profit
• Q4 revenues down to $923 million, reflecting weaker shipments
• Q4 operating loss of $37 million, resulting from lower volumes and approximately $40 million in gross tariff costs
• Full-year 2025 revenue declined to $3.8 billion with an operating loss of $22 million, including approximately $100 million in gross tariff costs
• Shipment volumes expected to increase in second half of 2026 as market conditions improve
• Moderate full-year 2026 operating profit expected; Strong revenue growth from improved volumes in the second-half of the year is anticipated to result in a profit, opposed to small loss in the first-half of 2026.

CLEVELAND, March 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Hyster-Yale, Inc. (NYSE:HY) reported consolidated results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2025. All comparisons are to the fourth quarter 2024, unless otherwise noted. 

 

Comments for Q4 period are detailed in segment results sections below.

Lift Truck Business Results

Revenues by geographic segment were as follows:

Q4 2025 Lift Truck revenues totaled $871 million, down 15% year-over-year due to lower truck volumes across all product lines. Reduced volumes reflected ongoing economic uncertainty, which dampened customer demand in previous quarters.

• Lift Truck volumes declined, especially for higher-value core counterbalanced trucks^A. The Company believes that customers are postponing purchases in response to lower utilization rates and ongoing efforts toward cash preservation as they navigate persistent economic uncertainty.
• The ongoing market shift toward lighter-duty, lower-priced trucks has led to reduced shipment volumes for traditional models. This shift is characterized by a trend towards more standard and value configurations within counterbalanced trucks, with the impact most pronounced in the EMEA and South America regions. In response to these evolving market dynamics, and to enhance its competitive position, the Company has introduced a modular product specifically engineered to compete directly with both standard and value truck configurations.

Sequentially, Lift Truck revenues decreased, primarily due to lower shipments of higher-value core counterbalanced trucks.

Gross profit, operating profit (loss) and adjusted operating profit (loss) by geographic segment were as follows:

• Q4 2025 Lift Truck operating results were reduced by approximately $40 million in gross tariff costs.
• The decline in Lift Truck’s year-over-year operating profit (loss) reflects lower truck volumes and higher tariff costs.
• Q4 2025 operating costs decreased year-over-year, mainly due to lower employee-related expenses, including lower incentive compensation expenses and savings from Nuvera’s strategic realignment.
• Americas operating profit declined primarily due to reduced truck volumes and tariff costs, which were partially offset by lower employee-related expenses.
• EMEA’s operating loss was primarily driven by lower volumes, reflecting customer order delays and a market shift toward lighter-duty, lower-priced truck models. The Company previously lacked competitive offerings in these segments but is now filling this gap with its new modular products.
• Sequentially, Lift Truck adjusted operating profit (loss) declined primarily due to lower shipments, partially offset by pricing actions to offset higher costs, mainly in the Americas.

Bolzoni Results

Bolzoni’s revenue declined year-over-year primarily due to softer demand in the lift truck industry, particularly in the Americas. Gross profit modestly improved with a favorable product mix in EMEA, despite reduced volumes and lower manufacturing overhead absorption. However, operating results declined year-over-year as higher operating expenses, including the appreciation of the Euro versus the U.S. dollar and increased employee-related costs, more than offset the gross profit improvement.

Sequentially, Bolzoni’s sales declined, mainly due to reduced volumes in the Americas, including lower component demand from the Lift Truck business. As a result, operating profit also decreased quarter-over-quarter, driven by reduced volumes accompanied by lower manufacturing overhead absorption.

Income Tax Expense

Q4 2025 income tax expense was $15.1 million despite a reported pre-tax loss. This was primarily driven by the geographic mix of earnings with tax expense in jurisdictions with positive earnings and losses incurred in certain jurisdictions where tax benefits could not be recognized.

Liquidity and Capital Allocation

In Q4 2025, the Company generated $57 million in cash from operating activities, primarily as a result of improved inventory efficiency, driven by improved finished goods management, resulting in higher operational cash flow versus Q3 2025.

Working capital optimization is a top priority, with particular emphasis on inventory reduction.

• Working capital was 19% of sales as of Q4 2025, a $60 million improvement from the prior quarter, primarily from improved inventory efficiency despite decreased revenues.
• Excluding foreign currency and tariff-related impacts of $60 million, Q4 2025 inventory levels decreased by $185 million year-over-year. Sequentially, inventory declined by $105 million, with minimal impact from foreign currency and tariffs.
• The Company saw improvements in inventory efficiency from optimizing production schedules to better align output with demand, inventory reductions to levels closer to target and streamlining logistics to shorten holding periods. These steps led to lower inventory, reduced costs and quicker turnover, directly boosting working capital and cash flow.
• The Company’s ongoing inventory optimization efforts are designed to increase cash generation and preserve financial flexibility, supporting its capital allocation priorities throughout this extended market downturn.

During 2025, lower earnings led to unfavorable debt-to-net income (loss) ratio.

The Company’s financial leverage, measured by net debt to adjusted EBITDA, increased compared to both prior periods as a result of lower earnings. This increase is primarily due to the significant EBITDA decline and despite the lower net debt levels compared to the prior quarter. In this period of lower truck demand, the Company remains focused on liquidity management by further optimizing working capital levels and managing capital and operating expenses.

Outlook

The Company’s 2026 outlook is based on a set of key assumptions, which include the anticipated impact of tariffs and related mitigation efforts to counter their impact on the Company. Proactive measures such as price increases, cost reductions through adjustments in global product sourcing, supply chain enhancements and cost optimization programs are expected to partially offset increased tariff-related expenses. Key assumptions for the outlook include:

• U.S. tariffs in effect as of November 10, 2025, including Chinese tariffs at 10%, used as the baseline,
• inclusion of Section 232 tariff for steel and steel derivatives,
• current Section 301 tariff exemption for lift truck parts not extended beyond November 10, 2026,
• no additional tariffs will be added globally,
• company demand forecasts that are based on bookings trends, backlog levels and market data, and
• the successful implementation of the Company’s proactive initiatives outlined above.

In February 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court (“the Court”) issued a ruling holding that tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) are not legally authorized. The Court only ruled on IEEPA tariffs and did not invalidate any other tariffs, nor did the Court address whether or how the U.S. government might issue refunds of IEEPA tariffs. If the U.S. government is ultimately required to issue refunds, the process likely will take many months or years. Although the ruling has been issued, its implications for trade policy and related administrative actions remain uncertain. A number of tariff-related matters continue to be challenged that could impact the continued utilization of certain tariffs and the manner in which tariff costs or potential recoveries are calculated. Adverse rulings, or the replacement or implementation of new tariffs or trade restrictions, may have a material adverse effect on market demand, revenue, profitability and liquidity.

The Company’s financial outlook continues to be significantly affected by U.S. tariff policy, which has been increasing costs, dampening product demand, and reducing overall financial performance. Despite the Company’s proactive actions to mitigate these impacts, tariffs remained, and are expected to remain, a substantial financial challenge. Ongoing uncertainty around future tariff policies adds further volatility that is expected to persist through 2026. In this environment, the Company remains focused on disciplined cost management, maintaining an appropriate balance between pricing and expenses, and advancing the broad set of product initiatives designed to address the market shift to lighter-duty, lower-priced trucks. Management is committed to navigating the Company through these conditions while positioning the business for long‑term profitable growth.

Lift Truck Market and Demand Outlook

The total lift truck market contracted in Q4 2025 compared to the prior year across all geographic regions and classes. However, North America showed growth over Q3 2025, which led to increased booking activity for the Company.

For the rest of the world, the total lift truck market contracted compared to the prior quarter. This reflects a more cautious customer approach amid ongoing economic uncertainty. We believe many customers are deferring capital expenditures, resulting in delayed purchasing decisions and continued softening of lift truck order activity, particularly in higher duty cycle applications.

Dollar-value Lift Truck bookings and backlog were as follows:

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