Morningstar | Continental 1Q Results Impress, 2019 Guidance Unchanged; Maintaining EUR 158 FVE
Narrow-moat-rated Continental announced first-quarter diluted earnings per share before special items, or EPS, of EUR 3.11, trouncing the sell-side consensus EPS estimate of EUR 2.68 by EUR 0.43 but EUR 0.58 lower than the EUR 3.69 reported last year. Revenue was roughly flat with the year-ago period at EUR 11.0 billion but excluding changes in the scope of consolidation and favorable currency exchange, sales would have declined 2%. We view the result as favorable given that first-quarter global light vehicle production declined 7.0%. Adjusted EBIT (before special items) plunged 17.1% to EUR 884 million versus EUR 1.07 billion reported in the first quarter of 2018, driving a 160-basis point contraction in adjusted EBIT margin to 8.1%.Management's unchanged 2019 guidance includes revenue in a range of EUR 45 billion to EUR 47 billion and adjusted EBIT margin in a range of 8% to 9%. The margin guidance represents contraction of 30 to 130 basis points compared with 2018's 9.3% adjusted EBIT margin result. We forecast 2019 revenue of EUR 46.1 billion and adjusted EBIT margin of 8.7%. At EUR 13.85 diluted EPS, we are slightly ahead of the 2019 sell-side consensus EPS estimate of EUR 13.44. Even so, the 3-star-rated shares of Continental are becoming more attractive, trading at a 15% discount to our EUR 158 fair value estimate.
Continental is an automotive industry supplier. Co.'s automotive divisions comprised of: Chassis & Safety, which develops and produces systems that provide safety and enhanced vehicle dynamics; Powertrain, which develops solutions for gasoline and diesel engines, as well as hybrid and electrical drive systems; and Interior, which provides solutions for information management within vehicles and networking between vehicles. Co.'s rubber divisions comprised of: Tires, which provides tires for passenger cars through trucks, buses and construction site vehicles to special vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles; and ContiTech, which develops products made from rubber and plastic.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offer an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors.
Morningstar provides data on approximately 530,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 18 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries and had approximately $185 billion in assets under advisement and management as of June 30, 2016.
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