Key facts
- Toyota said it expects operating profit of 3.9 trillion yen for the year ending March, a 15% outlook increase.
- July-September operating profit was 1.13 trillion yen, above a median forecast of 992 billion yen in an LSEG poll of nine analysts.
- Toyota raised its planned buyback to 1.3 trillion yen from up to 1 trillion yen.
- Toyota said it would spend up to 14 trillion yen returning money to shareholders by March 2031.
- Toyota said it would establish a robotics business supplying robots to manufacturers and other industries.
- Chief Financial Officer Yoichi Miyazaki said Toyota had halted its market share decline and was regaining ground.
Toyota lifted its annual outlook and set out a plan to return up to $89 billion to shareholders over five years, sending its shares up 17% in Tokyo on November 5, their biggest one-day gain in almost 40 years.
The automaker booked its first profit gain in six quarters, with income for the July-September quarter up 34%. Operating profit for the quarter came in at 1.13 trillion yen, above a median forecast of 992 billion yen in a poll of nine analysts surveyed by LSEG. Toyota said it now expects operating profit of 3.9 trillion yen for the year ending March, a 15% increase to its outlook.
Toyota attributed the results to demand for higher-margin hybrid vehicles and a weaker yen, which offset a slide in sales in China and the Middle East, according to The Straits Times. It increased a planned share buyback to 1.3 trillion yen from up to 1 trillion yen and said it would spend up to 14 trillion yen on shareholder returns by March 2031.
Chief Financial Officer Yoichi Miyazaki told a briefing: "We've been able to halt the decline in our market share and are now starting to regain some ground." Chief Accounting Officer Takanori Azuma said Toyota was offsetting the impact of the situation in the Middle East and a rise in material prices through sales efforts and cost reductions.
Toyota also said it would establish a robotics business providing robots for manufacturers and other industries, and position it as a pillar of future growth. The Straits Times reported that Toyota shares had gained around 8% before the results as investors sold AI-related stocks and bought blue chips after the US midterm elections, then extended gains in afternoon trade.