The headlines of Fox Business Flash are here. See what clicks on FoxBusiness.com.
Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday said it had a stockpile of chips of up to four months and did not immediately expect a global shortage of production to pass as it forecast its full-year profit forecast 54% higher than expected.
Unlike other car manufacturers, including the Japanese counterparts, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd., which had to reduce production due to production shortages of semiconductors, Toyota increased production for the financial year ended March.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO by clicking here
Shares in Toyota, the world’s largest automaker of vehicles, closed up 1.7% after reaching their highest level since July 2015.
“In the short term, we do not see a decrease in production volume due to the shortage of chips, but we do see the risks of a shortage of chips,” Kenta Kon, chief financial officer, said during a briefing.
Could have said Toyota had heard that the shortage of chips worldwide would continue until the summer, although the situation could resolve itself sooner.
MERCEDES DEVELOP ELECTRIC COMPACT SUV IN OFFER TO OUTDO TESLA
Asked why the carmaker has a limited impact compared to competitors, Kon said Toyota continues to deliver its short- and long-term production volume to suppliers.
Since the end of last year, the automotive industry has been dealing with a shortage of chips, which in some cases has been exacerbated by the former US government’s sanctions against Chinese chip factories.
The maker of the RAV4 SUV crossover and Prius hybrid has said it will sell 9.73 million vehicles this year, up 3.3% from a previous estimate of 9.42 million, but still lower than last year’s 10 , 46 million.
GM TO UPGRADE A HUNDRED TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES FULL-TIME
“The fact that Toyota is now largely unaffected by the scarcity deficit is an encouraging catalyst,” said Hideyuki Suzuki, general manager of investment research at SBI Securities.
For the fiscal year ended March 31, Toyota now expects a record operating profit of 2 trillion yen ($ 19.13 billion), much higher than an earlier forecast of 1.3 trillion yen, and well above an average of 1.542 trillion yen profit forecast based on estimates of 23 analysts. , Refinitiv data showed.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Alter | Alter% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TM | TOYOTA MOTOR | 154.00 | +1.07 | + 0.70% |
The carmaker now expects the yen to trade at 105 US dollars against the US dollar, up from a previous forecast of 106 yen.
Toyota said operating profit rose to 987.9 billion yen in the three months ended December 31, compared to an average of 565.51 billion yen profit from nine analysts surveyed by Refinitiv SmartEstimate.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS
($ 1 = 104.5700 yen)
(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; additional reporting by Hiroko Hamada, Tim Kelly; writing by Tim Kelly; editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Christopher Cushing)