Porsche shares fall as automaker cuts 2024 outlook on aluminium alloy shortage

Shares in automaker Porsche fell on Tuesday after the company cut its 2024 outlook, saying various suppliers were affected by a shortage of special aluminium alloys.

Porsche was last down 4.4% at 9:13 a.m. London time, paring back some earlier losses. Holding company Porsche SE was last down over 3%.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Porsche said sales revenue was now expected to come in between 39 billion euros ($42.4 billion) and 40 billion euros for the full financial year 2024, down from a previously expected 40 billion euros to 42 billion euros.

The company also revised its expectations for operating return on sales, sitting them in a range between 14% and 15% — lower than the previous forecast 15% to 17% interval.

Porsche said that a series of its suppliers were impacted by a “significant supply shortage with regard to special aluminium alloys.” The shortage is linked to flooding in a production facility of a key European aluminium supplier, Porsche explained.

This affected the production of vehicles which use aluminium body components, the company said, noting that they were used in all Porsche vehicle series.

“Despite immediate countermeasures, it is becoming apparent that the impending supply shortage will lead to impairments in production,” Porsche said. “These are expected to last several weeks and may possibly lead to production shutdowns of one or more vehicle series.”

In a note published Tuesday, UBS analysts said they were “surprised” by frequent supply chain issues at Porsche. While the flooding the in the supplier’s facility could be seen as major issue, supply chains have broadly been “very stable” since the end of the chip crisis, they said.

“This raises some question marks about supply chain management at Porsche,” the analysts wrote.

Porsche is set to announce its financial results for the first half of 2024 on Wednesday.