Friday, American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (AXL) turned to a profit in the fourth quarter from a loss in the year ago primarily due to a significant tax refund claim in the quarter.
For the fourth quarter, net income attributable to American Axle was $48.6 million or $0.80 per share, compared to a loss of $112.1 million or $2.17 per share in the year-ago period.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.12 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
American Axle swung to a profit in the fourth quarter despite a decline in revenue due to the $48.8 million tax refund claim, lower cost of goods sold and lower selling, general and administrative expenses. The refund claim of $48.8 million or $0.80 per share is related to newly enacted U.S. legislation providing for a special five-year net operating loss carryback election.
This year's results include a net charge for special items of $8.5 million or $0.14 per share, which consists of a $7.7 million non-cash write-off of unamortized debt issuance costs related to the prepayment of the $250 million Term Loan due 2012. American Axle also recorded pension and postretirement benefit curtailment gains of $4.3 million and other charges of $5.1 million, primarily relating to attrition programs and related statutory benefits.
Last year's results include a tax expense provision of $69.5 million, primarily relating to non-cash charges to establish and adjust valuation allowances on the company's U.S. and U.K. deferred tax assets.
Fourth-quarter net sales declined to $464.0 million from $503.0 million in the prior-year period; well above Wall Street expectations of $459.53 million for the quarter.
Customer production volumes for the North American light truck and SUV programs, which American Axle currently supports for GM and Chrysler, were down approximately 7% this quarter compared to the prior-year quarter. The company attributed lower production volumes to lower customer production of mid-sized light truck programs.
Despite the decline in net sales, lower cost of goods sold to $395.6 million from $474.6 million in the year-ago quarter, pushed up gross profit to $68.4 million from $28.4 million last year.
For the full-year, American Axle's net loss narrowed to $253.1 million or $4.81 per share from a net loss of $1.2 billion or $23.73 per share last year. Net sales decreased to $1.5 billion from $2.1 billion a year ago.
Looking ahead, the company expects full-year sales to range from $1.9 billion to $2.1 billion, representing an annual sales growth of 25% to 40% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect the company to report revenue of $2.18 billion next year.
American Axle said that it basing its sales projection on the assumption that the U.S. Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of light vehicle sales increases from approximately 10.4 million vehicle units this year to a range of 11.0 million to 11.5 million vehicle units next year.
The company also expects cash payments for restructuring costs to range from $40 million to $50 million next year. AXL is currently trading at $8.67, down $0.75 or 7.92%, on a volume of 3.39 million shares on the NYSE.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.