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Continental Aktiengesellschaft (CON) Q3 2026 Earnings Report
DE:CON Q3 2026 EPS Results
- Actual EPS
- EUR 1.75
- Consensus EPS
- EUR 1.34
- Beat/Miss
- Beat by +EUR 0.41
- One Year Ago EPS
- -EUR 3.78
DE:CON Q3 2026 Revenue Results
- Actual Revenue
- EUR 3.45B
- Expected Revenue
- EUR 3.49B
- Beat/Miss
- Missed by -EUR 39.13M
- YoY Revenue Growth
- -30.22%
Earnings Announcement Details
- Quarter
- Q3 2026
- Date
- 11/04/2026
- Time
- Before Open
- Conference Call
- Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Continental Aktiengesellschaft's next earnings date is estimated for March 2, 2027, based on past reporting schedules.
Q3 2026 Earnings Call Audio
Q3 2026 Earnings Slide Deck
Q3 2026 Earnings Call Summary
The call was broadly positive: Continental reported strong Q3 profitability, resilient underlying sales, improved premium volumes and mix, balance sheet deleveraging, progress on the ContiTech transaction, and raised full-year EBIT and free cash flow guidance. However, the company continues to face weak market volumes, significant raw material headwinds, challenging Americas conditions, ContiTech execution issues, and an expected sequential decline in Q4 profitability. The positive operational results and guidance upgrade significantly outweighed the stated challenges.
For full year 2026, Continental narrowed continuing-operations sales guidance to around EUR 13.5 billion to EUR 13.9 billion, raised adjusted EBIT margin guidance to around 13.4% to 14%, and raised adjusted free cash flow guidance to around EUR 1.0 billion to EUR 1.3 billion; EMEA sales are expected around the previous year level with margin slightly above the prior year, Americas sales slightly below prior year with margin around the range of the previous year, and APAC sales and margin slightly above the prior year comparison base, based on a 4% to 5% sales corridor and a margin corridor of 1 percentage points. ContiTech sales guidance was narrowed to around EUR 4.2 billion to EUR 4.4 billion, with adjusted EBIT margin of around 6.5% to 7.5% before IFRS 5 implications. For Q4, the company expects volume pressure, sequentially higher raw material costs, a significantly higher drop on EBIT, price/mix to remain strong but potentially slightly lower than Q3, FX slightly positive, no additional IEEPA refunds, and a mid-to-high double-digit euro million amount of raw-material impact, so Q4 margins are not expected to repeat Q3; for 2027, raw-material headwind is expected to be almost entirely concentrated in H1 '27 with a peak in Q1, with H2 broadly neutral to slightly positive and the full-year headwind in the low to mid-triple-digit million euro range, while holding costs are assumed at EUR 30 million to EUR 35 million.
- Strong Q3 Operating PerformanceSales from continuing operations amounted to EUR 3.5 billion in Q3. The reported year-on-year decline primarily reflected the sale of OESL, while the underlying business was broadly stable year-on-year after adjusting for consolidation effects. Adjusted EBIT increased to EUR 514 million, corresponding to a 14.9% margin.
- Premium Replacement Business and Mix StrengthReplacement business for Continental-branded tires supported sales resilience. Premium volumes in the replacement business increased 3.5% in the first nine months of 2026 compared with the first nine months of 2025. In Q3, positive price/mix contributed 2.9%, driven by product and channel mix, stronger Truck Tire business, and UHP contributions, particularly in EMEA and APAC.
- UHP Portfolio Expansion and Product RecognitionContinental plans to add more than 650 ultra-high-performance tire sizes to its portfolio by the end of 2027. UHP tires represented 64% of year-to-date 2026 passenger car tire sales under the Continental brand, an improvement of 2 percentage points compared with 2025. The SportContact 7 achieved 27 podium finishes in 29 independent international tire tests.
- Electric Vehicle and Efficiency Technology AchievementTogether with Volkswagen, Continental supported the Mission Efficiency concept vehicle in setting a new world efficiency record. The concept tire based on the production EcoContact 7 achieved rolling resistance around 25% below the threshold for the Class A rating under the EU tire label.
- Balance Sheet DeleveragingThe equity ratio increased by 4.3 percentage points year-over-year, while net debt decreased by more than EUR 500 million during the last 12 months. Net debt was also reported as around EUR 500 million lower than in Q3 2025.
- ContiTech Transaction ProgressThe buyer finalized acquisition financing and the majority of required regulatory approvals were already in place. Continental continued to expect closing of the ContiTech sale around the turn of the year and said the process currently looked very positive.
- Strong EMEA ResultsEMEA delivered Q3 sales of EUR 1.9 billion, organic growth of 2.2%, adjusted EBIT of EUR 351 million, and an adjusted EBIT margin of 18.7%. Performance was supported by healthy price/mix, increased UHP volumes including in Winter Tires, and solid Truck Tire growth in both OE and replacement.
- Resilient Americas ProfitabilityAmericas sales amounted to EUR 1.1 billion and adjusted EBIT was EUR 97 million. Despite an organic sales decline, the adjusted EBIT margin remained broadly stable at 8.7%, supported by commercial measures, cost management, a slight increase in UHP share, lower tariff costs, and IEEPA refunds.
- Healthy APAC Profitability and Chinese OEM ExposureAPAC generated sales of EUR 476 million, adjusted EBIT of EUR 89 million, and an adjusted EBIT margin of 18.6%. UHP volumes grew solidly, Chinese OEM export business supported OE volumes, and portfolio measures implemented in the region supported profitability. Continental said most of its Chinese OE business was with Chinese OEMs and benefited from their export activity.
- Positive Commercial Vehicle TrendsNorth American OE production for commercial vehicles recovered strongly from a very low comparison base, while European production remained positive. European Truck Tire replacement demand remained robust, and the sequential trajectory in North American replacement improved slightly.
- Cash Flow and Guidance UpgradeAdjusted free cash flow was EUR 31 million in Q3. The company raised full-year adjusted free cash flow guidance to around EUR 1.0 billion to EUR 1.3 billion, citing stronger earnings, greater CapEx visibility, and a slightly higher expectation for the working capital swing. Full-year adjusted EBIT margin guidance was raised to around 13.4% to 14%.
- Updated Full-Year Sales and Regional GuidanceSales guidance for continuing operations was narrowed to around EUR 13.5 billion to EUR 13.9 billion. EMEA sales are expected around the previous year level with margin slightly above the prior year; Americas sales are expected slightly below the prior year with margin around the previous year's range; and APAC sales and margin are expected to be slightly above the prior-year comparison base.
- ContiTech Guidance and Order BacklogContiTech sales guidance was narrowed to around EUR 4.2 billion to EUR 4.4 billion, with adjusted EBIT margin guidance of around 6.5% to 7.5% before IFRS 5 implications. Despite current execution challenges, management said order books looked healthy and expected the order backlog to materialize over the coming quarters.
- Product and Capacity Investments in North AmericaContinental is adding products such as the SecureContact all-weather tire and investing in its LT-SUV, 4x4, and all-terrain portfolios, production capacities, and capabilities. Management identified these areas as opportunities for profitable growth, with the SecureContact all-weather tire expected to bring relevant positive volume impact in 2027.
- Normal European Dealer Inventory and Winter DemandEuropean dealer inventories were described as being at a normal level, with no expected unhealthy inventory levels entering 2027. Continental reported a good winter-season order book in terms of mix, increasing activity in its own retail operations, and rising ad-hoc orders.
DE:CON Earnings History
| Report Date | Fiscal Quarter | Forecast / EPS | Last Year's EPS | EPS YoY Change | Press Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 02, 2027 | 2026 (Q4) | 1.65- | 0.22 | ― | ― |
| Nov 04, 2026 | 2026 (Q3) | 1.341.75 | -3.78 | 146.30% (+5.53) | |
| Aug 04, 2026 | 2026 (Q2) | 1.431.17 | 1.92 | -39.16% (-0.75) | |
| May 06, 2026 | 2026 (Q1) | 1.660.97 | 0.81 | 20.35% (+0.16) | |
| Mar 04, 2026 | 2025 (Q4) | 2.120.22 | 1.64 | -86.54% (-1.42) | |
| Nov 06, 2025 | 2025 (Q3) | -2.64-3.78 | 1.85 | -304.66% (-5.63) | |
| Aug 05, 2025 | 2025 (Q2) | 1.431.92 | 1.16 | 66.35% (+0.77) | |
| May 06, 2025 | 2025 (Q1) | 0.550.81 | -0.2 | 493.17% (+1.01) | |
| Mar 04, 2025 | 2024 (Q4) | 1.761.64 | 1.11 | 47.26% (+0.53) | |
| Nov 11, 2024 | 2024 (Q3) | 1.641.85 | 1.13 | 63.02% (+0.71) |
The table shows recent earnings report dates and whether the forecast was beat or missed. See the change in forecast and EPS from the previous year.
