By Rob Curran

BorgWarner raised the upper end of its 2025 adjusted earnings projection even as it cut its net income estimates, and the car-parts maker said it was exiting the electric-charger business and logged a decline in first-quarter sales, reflecting cross-currents in an auto industry roiled by a shift in U.S. policy.

The Auburn Hills, Mich., auto-parts maker posted earnings of $157 million, or 72 cents a share, down from $206 million, or 90 cents a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-off items, BorgWarner logged adjusted earnings of $1.11, exceeding the average analyst target of 98 cents a share, as tallied by FactSet.

First-quarter sales fell 2% to $3.52 billion, surpassing the average analyst estimate of $3.41 billion, as per FactSet.

For 2025, BorgWarner cut its projection for earnings to a range between $3.44 and $3.85 a share from a prior estimated range of 3.84-to-$4.12 a share. On an adjusted basis, the company forecast earnings in a range between $4 and $4.45 a share from a previous estimate of $4.05-to-$4.40 a share.

The company boosted its sales projection to a range between $13.6 billion and $14.2 billion from a prior estimate of $13.4 billion to $14 billion. The company cited the favorable impact of foreign exchange and "tariff customer recoveries," offset by a decline in production. BorgWarner reduced its forecast for light and commercial vehicle markets, and now expects those to shrink by 2% to 4%, compared to a previous 1%-to-3% anticipated contraction, citing the potential tariff impact.

BorgWarner said it would exit the charger business during the second quarter. The company said this would tighten the focus of its operations save it about $30 million in annual adjusted losses.

BorgWarner plans to consolidate its North American Battery Systems unit, adjusting the cost structure in such a way as to save $20 million a year by 2026.

The Trump administration's intentions to end federal incentives for electric vehicles and the winding-down of dealership promotions has weighed on sales recently. Sales of EVs in the U.S. fell by around 5% during the month, while the broader car market grew by 10%, according to research firm Motor Intelligence.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 07, 2025 07:16 ET (11:16 GMT)

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