March 12 (Reuters) - Daimler Truck on Thursday guided for a broadly stable 2026 profit margin in its industrial business and said it expected the second half of the year to be stronger than the first
Daimler Truck sees broadly stable 2026 margins, expects stronger second half
Daimler Truck 2026 Financial Outlook and Market Expectations
By Amir Orusov
March 12 (Reuters) - Daimler Truck on Thursday guided for a broadly stable 2026 profit margin in its industrial business and said it expected the second half of the year to be stronger than the first half.
Profit Margin Guidance and Sales Forecast
The company, one of the world's biggest truckmakers, expects its adjusted return on sales (ROS) in the industrial business to be between 6% and 8%, compared with 7.9% in 2025.
Unit Sales Projections
Daimler Truck anticipates 2026 unit sales of between 330,000 and 360,000 vehicles, up from 315,000 units from continuing operations in 2025, it said.
Macroeconomic and Geopolitical Factors
The outlook is subject to macroeconomic and geopolitical developments, particularly U.S. tariffs, and excludes potential impacts from supply chain disruptions or the Middle East conflict, the company said.
Impact of U.S. Tariffs
U.S. tariffs weighed on results by around 250 million euros in 2025, CFO Eva Scherer said on a conference call. She added that the impact is expected to be significantly higher in 2026 following the introduction of 25% U.S. import tariffs by President Donald Trump starting in November last year.
Order Intake and Operational Improvements
Still, Daimler Truck has seen a positive trend in order intake in the fourth quarter of 2025, which continued into the start of this year.
Operational Strategy for 2026
"For 2026, we are positioned for operational improvement on higher volumes and efficiency gains compensating materially higher tariff effects," Scherer said in a statement.
Market Reaction and Analyst Commentary
Daimler Truck shares were up 3% at 0958 GMT.
Analyst Insights
Warburg Research analyst Fabio Hoelscher said that while the ROS guidance was cautious due to macroeconomic risks, the operating profit and free cash flow outlooks were significantly higher than the market had anticipated.
Cost-Cutting Initiatives and Savings
Daimler Truck also said it achieved net savings of over 100 million euros ($115.49 million) in 2025 from its cost-cutting programme in Europe and aims to generate at least an additional recurring 250 million euros in net savings in 2026.
Currency Exchange Rate
($1 = 0.8659 euros)
(Reporting by Amir Orusov; Editing by Matt Scuffham)
