Revenue of the Week: Toyota Nearly Doubles Operating Profit

Toyota Motor Co. (TM), the world's leading manufacturer car for sale, nearly doubled its operating profit from a year earlier as better prices, productivity gains and supply chain improvements boosted sales.

Key Takeaways

Toyota, the world's largest automaker by sales, nearly doubled its operating profit from a year ago.
The company sold nearly 2.33 million cars between April and June, up 15.5% from the year-ago quarter, while those of its electric vehicles (VE) increased by 30%.
Sales growth was driven by productivity gains, better pricing, supply chain improvements and favorable currency headwinds following a weaker yen.

Toyota's operating profit jumped 94% from the year-ago quarter to 1.12 trillion yen ($7.89 billion), beating estimates of 945 billion yen ( $6.66 billion). Earnings growth was driven by higher sales, productivity gains and currency tailwinds from a weaker yen, which boosted the company's vehicle exports. Net profit totaled nearly 1.33 trillion yen ($9.37 billion), up 75% from the same quarter last year.

Toyota sold just under 2.33 million cars in the April-June period, up 15.5% from the year-ago quarter, with electric vehicle (EV) sales up by almost 30%. The company attributed the sales surge to productivity gains, easing supply chain constraints for semiconductors and better pricing that more accurately reflects the retail value of each car.

"Because of meticulously selling each car at prices that match the appeal of the fine product through Toyota"s long tradition of "creating ever better cars" initiative, operating income increased, helping to reduce the impact of the sharp increase in material prices," the company said in its earnings presentation.

On the other hand, as supply chain constraints have eased resulting in a backlog of orders in the business with customers having to wait long periods for deliveries.

"Many customers have always been waiting for delivery of their cars, especially new models, for a long time, so we strive to deliver them as soon as possible," said Toyota.

For 2023 as a whole, Toyota expects profit of 3 trillion yen ($21.14 billion), saying trading conditions have not materially changed for three months. That compares with an average forecast of 3.6 trillion yen ($25.37 billion) compiled by 23 market analysts, Reuters reported.

With more than 9 million cars sold in 2022 , Toyota is the world's best-selling automaker, a position it has held for three years after overtaking Volkswagen in 2020.

More profitable than Tesla

For the first time since 2021, Toyota is more profitable than electric vehicle rival Tesla (TSLA), with an operating profit margin of 10.6% last quarter, compared to 9.6% for Tesla. Toyota's electrification efforts and growing electric vehicle sales have taken market share away from Tesla, with Toyota's battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales up 623% from the same quarter last year. #39;last year.