Honda Backs Annual Profit Forecast Despite Tariff Impact, Write-Down of EV Assets — Update

By Kosaku Narioka

Honda Motor maintained its annual profit forecast after reporting sharply weaker nine-month results, dented by U.S. tariffs and EV-related impairments.

The Japanese automaker said Tuesday that net profit fell 42% from a year earlier to 465.44 billion yen, equivalent to $2.99 billion, for the nine months ended December. That beat the estimate of Y406.95 billion in a poll of analysts by data provider Quick.

Nine-month revenue declined 2.2% to Y15.976 trillion.

The company booked Y267.1 billion in one-time provisioning and impairments related to electric vehicles sold in the U.S. and from writing down EV development assets due to lineup changes.

Honda said in May that it planned to cut its EV investment by some $20 billion in the coming years as demand growth slows. The automaker said it would improve its lineup of hybrid models.

U.S. tariffs lowered operating profit by Y289.8 billion for the nine months.

Honda's auto production in North America was also hit by a shortage of chips from Dutch supplier Nexperia late last year amid a dispute between the Dutch and Chinese governments over control of the semiconductor maker.

For the fiscal year ending March, Honda projected that revenue would decrease 2.7% to Y21.100 trillion, up from its previous forecast of Y20.700 trillion. The company continues to expect net profit to drop 64% to Y300.00 billion.

Honda maintained its annual sales forecasts for cars and motorcycles at 3.34 million units and 21.30 million units, respectively.

Rival Toyota Motor on Friday raised its annual earnings guidance despite a projected U.S. tariff hit of $9 billion, after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results driven by stronger sales in Japan and North America. Toyota said Chief Financial Officer Kenta Kon would become its new chief executive, effective April 1, to address profitability issues.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 10, 2026 03:22 ET (08:22 GMT)