-- AB Volvo (VOLV-A.ST, VOLV-B.ST), d/b/a Volvo Group, reported "solid" profitability in the first quarter of 2026, recording an adjusted operating margin of 11% despite market slowdown and geopolitical headwinds impacting sales.
While Swedish automaker's adjusted operating margin climbed from 10.9% previously, the group's adjusted operating income for the quarter came in at 12.17 billion kronor, down from 13.26 billion kronor a year ago, according to a Friday earnings release.
The decline was attributed to higher US tariffs, freight costs and manufacturing under-absorption, partly offset by service growth, lower research and development spending, and a "favorable" product and market mix. Operating income was also weighed down by 1.11 billion kronor in negative currency effects and a 1 billion kronor tariff headwind, with "about half" affecting the construction equipment division.
Volvo Group's attributable income for the three months ended March 31 fell year over year to 8.32 billion kronor from 9.89 billion kronor previously, while net sales declined by 9% to 110.77 billion kronor. The result was dragged by a 13% drop in the group's construction equipment segment to 18.31 billion kronor following the sale of its interest in China-based SDLG.
Even with these pressures, Volvo Group President and Chief Executive Officer Martin Lundstedt highlighted a "good" performance across the company's business segments. "Despite the ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, customer confidence in our products and services remained strong, reflected in good order intake and low cancellations throughout the quarter," Lundstedt added.
Notably, Volvo Group's trucks division saw order intake rise 14% year over year to 62,755 trucks, with orders in North America surging 78%. RBC Capital Markets highlighted this order surge, as the research firm adopted a positive sentiment on the update.
"Adj. EBIT was 4% above consensus, with clear margin beats in all four industrial divisions. Trucks order intake was 7% above with book-to-bill at 1.35x, while the CE book-to-bill was 1.10x. The trucks market outlooks for Europe and Brazil have been lifted slightly... Volvo continues to manage the cycle well, and with NA truck demand likely to gain momentum through the year and with CE in the early innings of a restocking phase, we think solid profitability can continue," RBC wrote.
Volvo Group's shares were trading 1% higher in Stockholm as of Friday midday.