Mercedes-Benz cuts its full-year forecast, shares fall about 5%
Citing a tough China business and higher costs, Mercedes now expects a return of only 2% to 3% in its car division for 2026. Third-quarter results partly beat expectations.
Archive image · Photo: Julian Herzog / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Mercedes-Benz cut its full-year forecast in an ad hoc statement on Oct. 27. The car division's adjusted return on sales is now expected at 2% to 3% in 2026, down from 3% to 5%. The Stuttgart-based automaker now sees group EBIT at the prior-year level instead of "significantly above" it, and industrial free cash flow "significantly below" last year. Mercedes cited an increasingly challenging market environment in China and higher fourth-quarter costs, including for materials.
Preliminary third-quarter figures, however, partly beat expectations: group EBIT reached 1.77 billion euros (analyst consensus: 1.6 billion) and the car division's return 2.5% (consensus: 2.4%). Industrial free cash flow of 172 million euros fell well short of the expected 422 million.
The shares fell about 5% after the announcement, Investing.com reported. Mercedes-Benz plans to publish its full quarterly report on Oct. 28.