Mercedes-Benz Shares Slide into 52-Week Low Territory as Worker Walkouts Complicate Cost-Cutting Push
30.06.2026 - 16:07:29 | boerse-global.de
The conflict between Mercedes-Benz management and its workforce escalated sharply last week, sending the automaker’s shares to their lowest level in a year. On Friday 27 June, hundreds of employees at the Bremen plant downed tools before the end of their shifts, temporarily halting production in several areas. The spontaneous walkouts came in response to management’s decision to defer a scheduled bonus payment and its push to extend the working week beyond 35 hours without additional pay.
Around 90,000 of the group’s roughly 108,000 German employees are affected by the delayed “transformation component” — a special payment worth nearly one-fifth of a monthly salary originally slated for July 2026. The company now intends to shift that payout to 2027, citing structurally elevated costs relative to international peers and persistent margin pressure. The works council has rejected both the unilateral deferral and the proposed longer hours, deepening the standoff.
The stock closed Monday at €43.41, just 1.8% above a freshly minted 52-week low of €42.64. By Tuesday it had slipped further to €42.88, a mere 0.55% above the year’s trough of €42.64 from 29 June. Year-to-date, the shares have lost almost 30% of their value. Technical indicators paint a grim picture: the price is 12% below its 50-day moving average and almost 22% beneath the 200-day average. The relative strength index (RSI) stands at 30.2, signalling deeply oversold conditions — though the primary article notes an RSI of 28.6, suggesting the selling pressure has only intensified.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Mercedes-Benz?
Mercedes-Benz has been running a multi-billion-euro share buyback programme since November 2025. By the end of March 2026, it had repurchased 14 million of its own shares for €794 million, including transaction costs. Yet the programme has done little to arrest the slide: the market remains fixated on operational headwinds rather than capital allocation measures.
The first quarter of 2026 underscored the challenges. Revenue came in at €31.6 billion, with earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of €1.9 billion. The adjusted return on sales in the core Cars division was 4.1%, within the full-year guidance range of 3% to 5% but hardly robust. Vans performed better at 10.1%, while Financial Services posted a 44% increase in adjusted EBIT to €413 million. Free cash flow from the industrial business reached €1.86 billion. The company blamed intense competition and geopolitical strains for the tough environment.
Analysts remain divided on the outlook. Jefferies upgraded the stock from “Hold” to “Buy”, albeit cutting its price target from €60 to €52. UBS maintains a “Neutral” stance with a €55 target, viewing the cost-cutting moves as evidence of the structural transformation underway in German auto manufacturing. Both recognise that the underlying numbers demand action: in 2025, group profit nearly halved to €5.3 billion, and without meaningful cost reductions, management warns that competitiveness — especially against Chinese rivals and amid the expensive shift to electric mobility — is at risk.
The next major test comes on 28 July, when Mercedes-Benz publishes its official second-quarter interim report and holds an analyst conference call. A pre-close call is scheduled for 14 July. By then, the market will want to see whether margins and free cash flow can hold up through model changes and trade headwinds — and whether labour unrest will impede the very cost savings the company says it needs to survive.
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