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A BofA Securities analyst downgraded automotive stocks American Axle (NYSE:AXL), CarMax (NYSE:KMX), and Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) on Friday as they revised forecasts for the sector.
American Axle & Manufacturing was downgraded to Neutral from Buy, CarMax was cut to Underperform from Neutral, and Sonic Automotive was downgraded to Underperform from Buy. Several stocks also had their price targets lowered, with AXL’s cut to $13 from $16, CarMax’s lowered to $100 from $146, and Sonic’s dropped to $71 from $82 per share.
“As we anticipated in our Year Ahead report, 2022 is not the stabilization/ inflection year many had hoped for, but what is surprising is that supply chain issues are likely to persist into 2023,” stated the analyst.
“Furthermore, automakers appear not to be in a rush to ramp production (they are generating record profits), and the macro overlay has become a greater risk. For these reasons we are lowering our 2023+ US/NA volume forecasts and expect the next peak in demand will more likely be in 2028 than in 2025. Specifically, we now project US auto sales of 13.9mm in 2022E (n/c), 15.3mm in 2023E (prior 16.7mm), 16.0mm in 2024E (prior 17.5mm) and 16.8mm in in 2025E (prior 17.9mm),” he added.
