Volkswagen Stock: Share Rises Despite Vehicle Sales Decline

Volkswagen's stock demonstrated positive momentum on the XETRA trading platform, climbing 1.5 percent to €109.80, with intraday highs reaching €109.90. This upward trajectory comes despite challenging business conditions, as the automaker's overall vehicle sales decreased by 2.3 percent to 9.03 million units across all brands in 2024. Trading volume amounted to approximately 469,000 shares. Analysts maintain optimism about the company's prospects, forecasting earnings per share of €22.02 for fiscal year 2024 and setting a median price target of €111.71. Despite implementing cost-cutting measures, Volkswagen plans to pay full employee bonuses this year, with the exact amount to be announced following the financial statement presentation on March 11. For reference, staff received bonuses of €4,735 in the previous year.

TRATON Success Contrasts with Porsche SE Writedowns

While parent company Volkswagen shows resilience, the Porsche Automobil Holding SE, which holds significant stakes in Volkswagen, faces substantial challenges with a €19.9 billion downward valuation adjustment for its Volkswagen participation. The holding company anticipates a net loss of approximately €20 billion for the fiscal year. In contrast, Volkswagen's commercial vehicle division TRATON outperformed expectations, improving its operating margin to 9.2 percent compared to 8.6 percent in the previous year. This exceeded both internal projections of 8.0-9.0 percent and market forecasts. TRATON's revenue grew by 1 percent to €47.473 billion, prompting plans to increase dividends to €1.70 per share.