The latest Market Talks covering the Auto and Transport sector. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.

1623 GMT - European banks wiped out their gains for the year amid a sharp sector downturn Friday. A basket of European banking stocks falls 3%--having gained 1.3% for the year to Thursday's close--with major names falling sharply. Societe Generale is down 5.3% in Paris, while German giants Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank fall 5.2% and 3.6%, respectively. In Spain, Santander and BBVA slide 2.5% and 3.2%, while Italian lender UniCredit is down 3.75%. Barclays falls 2.3% in London. Banks are the latest victims of marauding fears around artificial-intelligence competition, Panmure Liberum's Joachim Klement says. "The AI loser theme has spread to banks. People are selling now, asking questions later," Klement adds. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

1500 GMT - Rivian expects to begin deliveries of its new R2 model in the second quarter before production ramps up in the back half of the year, executives said on a call with analysts. The company will begin production with a single shift before adding a second in the second half and a third shift in 2027. Rivian is betting that the model will be a compelling electric vehicle alternative around the $50,000 price point. "There's going to be a large demand backlog that we're working through and a tremendous amount of excitement for the R2 vehicle," CEO RJ Scaringe told analysts. Shares are up 20%.(elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1456 GMT - Rivian is likely to face headwinds from a pullback in electric vehicles sales as the company prepares to launch its R2 model in March, Mizuho analysts write in a note. After a key EV tax credit expired last year, light vehicle production of electric vehicles in 2026 expected to be down around 10% year-over-year, also due to macroeconomic headwinds and a shift toward hybrid and combustion vehicles. The company also noted some cost headwinds from the memory shortage, the analysts note. Rivian surges 24% to $17.40 after a 4Q earnings beat. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1445 GMT - Rivian surges in early trading on a better-than-expected 4Q, and Benchmark says the results reinforce a "path to profitability" ahead of the R2 launch. Analyst Mickey Legg says in a note that "2026 guidance positions RIVN for a clear transition year, with R2 volume ramping in the back half, software growing at attractive margins, and auto gross profit expected to turn positive exiting the year." Legg adds that the 4Q performance, combined with solid liquidity and visibility of funding from Volkswagen, helps clear a path to scale "and supports a more durable earnings inflection beginning in 2027." Legg raises his price target to $25 from $18. Rivian jumps 20% to $16.86. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1357 GMT - A white paper on artificial-intelligence disruption in the trucking industry from Algorithm Holdings, which owns the SemiCab AI platform, triggered a sell-off of truck brokerage stocks including C.H. Robinson Worldwide on Thursday. But the paper overstates the risk of disruption, Benchmark's Christopher Kuhn writes in a note. The paper states that truckload freight planning is largely manual with models that plateau at about 500 truckloads, but he notes C.H. Robinson has performed more than 3 million automated tasks using AI agents and handles 5,500 truckloads a day. "While concerns about AI-driven disruption are understandable, it is important to remember that since 2023, CHRW's disciplined and differentiated approach to deploying advanced artificial intelligence at scale has already delivered tangible business results," he writes. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1348 GMT -- Air Canada continues to see strong demand from late 2025 into the new year, and it's not coming from the U.S. In an earnings call, CEO Michael Rousseau says the airline saw "very strong demand in the last two months of the year," which helped top expectations in 4Q. More broadly in 2025, the airline says it has leveraged its geographic exposure to pivot capacity to areas of strength, such as to Canada and the Atlantic in the summer months, "fully mitigating the impact of reduced Canada-U.S. demand." Rousseau says that Air Canada saw notable success in the Atlantic and Latin America as each posted load factor expansion from the prior year. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1346 GMT--Air Canada's corporate demand for transatlantic and transpacific flights could be a sign of broader economic diversification efforts. In a call to investors, CEO Michael Rousseau says "we're seeing a lot of corporate demand growth on the North Atlantic. We've seen almost a 30% increase in the amount of corporate traffic going to Europe and the Pacific," he says. Given trade tensions with the U.S. that began last year, Canada has looked to diversify its trade relations away from the U.S., its historically largest trade partner. "We attribute part of that to the fact that Canada is looking to diversify trade corridors," Rousseau says. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1220 GMT -- Magna International is anticipating growing margins even as light vehicle production remains flat in 2026, which could bode well for upgrades along the way. TD Cowen's Brian Morrison says in a report that guidance for the year is encouraging, with a margin range of 6%-6.6%, ahead of consensus at 5.95%. "We're encouraged that, in a flattish 2026 forecast production volume environment, management anticipates realizing notable margin enhancing initiatives," he says. The strong starting position sets Magna well for upward financial revisions as well as potential multiple expansion, Morrison says, and with further upside potential if industry outlook improves. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1150 GMT - Air Canada has a solid 4Q beat helped by stronger-than-expected demand trends across passenger and cargo segments, according to Scotiabank. Analyst Konark Gupta says in a report that 2026 guidance for EBITDA and free-cash-flow also beat expectations but notes the FCF outlook "includes $1B in sale/leaseback proceeds vs. our $600M assumption (consensus was likely lower), while AC reduced 2026 capex projection by $200M." Yet even after adjusting for that difference, Gupta says FCF guidance still comes in "ahead of our expectations by $160M," thanks to resilient demand and cost controls. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1102 GMT - Volkswagen is emerging as a relative winner within the challenged European mass-market automakers segment, Morgan Stanley analysts write. New products ramping up between 2025 and 2027 and cost efforts targeting over 15 billion euros in annual savings and lower investment intensity are helping, they add. "This ultimately improves free cash flow sequentially after a decade of elevated spending." While structural margin pressure from Chinese competition limits upside and caps returns below prior-cycle peaks, Volkswagen's strong balance sheet, improving free cash flow, attractive dividend yield, and valuation position it as Morgan Stanley's preferred name among European mass market manufacturers. Morgan Stanley continues to structurally favor premium peers, with Mercedes-Benz and BMW being its only overweight-rated manufacturers. Volkswagen shares fall 0.2% to 102.60 euros.(dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

1011 GMT - Mercedes-Benz's guidance will likely trigger double-digit consensus earnings downgrades, but the share reaction was muted because the company demonstrated a strong commitment to shareholder returns, Deutsche Bank analyst Tim Rokossa writes in a note. Mercedes released soft 3%-5% car margin guidance for 2026, marking the fourth consecutive year of profitability decline and missing base expectations of 4%-6%. However, a dividend significantly above consensus and up to 2 billion euros in planned disposals allowing for share buybacks are a substantial return, he adds. "The company is effectively paying investors to wait out yet another transition year." Deutsche Bank estimates the dividend and buyback could exceed 10% of market cap this year. It lowers its target price on the stock to 74 euros from 79 euros and keeps its rating at buy. Shares rise 0.3% to 57.29 euros. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

0916 GMT - Grab's long-term story remains intact, Jefferies analysts say in a note. "One of Grab's key success factors is its hyperlocal execution strategy," to better serve the countries where it operates, they write. Multiple drivers are supporting Grab's target to hit $1.5 billion in adjusted Ebitda terms by 2028, including revenue growth from on-demand services driving margin expansion, declining corporate costs thanks to artificial-intelligence efficiency, and its financial services business expecting to break even by 2H 2026, they write. Taking into account Grab's 2025 earnings, Jefferies retains a buy rating on the stock but trims its target price to $6.70 from $7.00. Key risks to their target price include intensifying competition and macroeconomic factors, they add. Shares last closed at US$4.27. (kimberley.kao@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 13, 2026 12:20 ET (17:20 GMT)

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