Volkswagen Reports Mixed Q4 Results; Raising Fair Value Estimate to EUR 336

No-moat Volkswagen reported fourth-quarter earnings per share before special items of EUR 2.79, well below the EUR 8.38 FactSet consensus by EUR 5.59 and down EUR 6.65 from the EUR 9.44 reported last year. We surmise the shortfall was attributable to continuing operating disruptions from the chip shortage and logistics, higher raw material costs, increased energy costs, other inflationary cost pressures, and lower financial services profitability on increased interest rates and higher loss provisions. Even so, consolidated revenue jumped 20% to EUR 76.2 billion from EUR 63.6 billion a year ago, beating the consensus by 2%, on strong pricing and mix. Consolidated deliveries increased 19% to 1.5 million versus 1.2 million last year when the chip crunch was at its worst.