Why U.S. axle and manufacturing stocks are up nearly 5% today

American Axle & Manufacturing (AXL 4.83%)a company that helps support the auto industry, reported encouraging quarterly results Friday morning. Investors subsequently bid up its shares during the day, to the point where it closed nearly 5% higher. That made her an outlier, like S&P 500 The increase in the index was a much more modest 0.5%.

A convincing double whammy

For its second quarter, American Axle posted sales of $1.63 billion, which was slightly higher than the $1.57 billion earned in the same period in 2023. Net income based on general accounting principles accepted (GAAP) jumped quite a bit, doubling and then some to more than $18 million, from a year ago profit of $8 million. On a non-GAAP (adjusted) basis, the specialty auto parts maker earned $0.19.

American Axle hit easy paces on both the top and bottom lines with those results. On average, analysts following the company’s stock were expecting revenue of $1.59 billion and just $0.11 per share in adjusted net income.

In its earnings release, American Axle quoted CEO David Dauch as attributing the increase in key fundamentals to “positive volume and mix contributions and continued operational performance.”

Full year targets adjusted

American Axle adjusted some of its financial targets for the full year 2024. It now sees its sales coming in at $6.1 billion to $6.3 billion. This is a tightening of the company’s previous outlook of $6.05 billion to $6.35 billion. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization also got a bump; management believes it will reach $705 million to $755 million, up from the previous range of $685 million to $750 million. The company did not provide any forecast for net income.