After Toyota’s third-quarter operating profit surged almost 76%, going past analysts’ estimates, the company hiked its full-year profit forecast by about 9% to 4.9 trillion yen. The rise in third quarter profit was a result of weaker yen and strong sales of high-margin cars and hybrid vehicles. The company’s shares surged 4.4% after the announcement, recovering from a 0.7% fall earlier.
Toyota’s higher forecast contrasts with a downbeat outlook from many of its rivals who have warned of tepid sales growth and announced production cuts this year due to high interest rates and slowing demand for electric vehicles (EVs). The Japanese company’s is seen outperforming its competitors this year, helped by robust demand for hybrid vehicles, which it pioneered more than a quarter century ago with the Prius model.
Toyota raised its profit forecast for the current year to 4.9 trillion yen (USD 33 billion) from 4.5 trillion expected previously. The figure is well above an average analyst forecast of 4.6 trillion yen, according to LSEG data. The Japanese firm’s operating profit for the three months to December 31 totalled 1.68 trillion yen, up 75.7% a year earlier and beating the average 1.3 trillion yen profit estimate in a poll of nine analysts by LSEG.
Hybrids have been faring well for Toyota as they accounted for around one third of the total sales of more than 10 million vehicles of the main brand and its luxury brand – Lexus – last year. In the third quarter, hybrid sales jumped 46%, contributing to an 11% rise in overall vehicle sales. North America, Toyota’s biggest market by volume, reported the strongest growth with a 28% surge in sales.
Toyota’s home market Japan saw sales grow just 5% but reported the highest earnings and margin among its major markets. The country contributed two thirds of Toyota’s quarterly profit and generated a 20% operating margin, well above the company’s overall margin of 14% and North America’s 3.4%.
Due to a weaker yen currency, which has tumbled around 10% against the dollar since end-2022, the impact of Toyota’s robust global sales has been bolstered.