Voestalpine Lifts Half-Year Profit 46% While Trade Headwinds Force a Lower Guidance Ceiling
Published on 11/13/2026 at 14:31 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Voestalpine delivered a sharply higher profit for the first half of fiscal 2026/27, but the Austrian steelmaker trimmed the top end of its full-year earnings guidance the same week it confirmed a round of job cuts at one of its sites. Profit after tax came in at EUR 290 million for the six-month period, a jump of 46.1% year on year, the company reported on Wednesday.
EBITDA advanced 17.1% to EUR 846 million, while revenue edged up 0.8% to EUR 7.7 billion. Those headline figures carried a caveat: EBITDA and EBIT included positive and negative one-off effects that netted out to roughly EUR 100 million, according to the company.
Guidance Ceiling Cut on War, Energy and Tariffs
For the full 2026/27 fiscal year, Voestalpine now expects EBITDA of EUR 1.60–1.70 billion, lowering the upper bound from the EUR 1.85 billion previously guided. The floor stays at EUR 1.60 billion. Management pointed to the war in the Middle East, higher energy and logistics costs, and additional US tariffs as the drags behind the revision.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Voestalpine?
The tariff burden falls most heavily on the Tubulars division, according to Reuters, which also cited delays to projects in the energy business and low water levels on the Danube as contributing factors. The Standard reported that the Linz plant was unable to ship all of its steel products because of logistics problems, with chief executive Herbert Eibensteiner naming persistent low water as one cause.
Kindberg to Shed Around 150 Jobs
Those same trade barriers are reshaping the workforce. Voestalpine plans to cut roughly 150 positions at its Kindberg site by the end of March 2027, a move the company attributed to US tariffs and difficult alternative markets. A social plan is to be worked out with the works council by the end of November 2026.
Analysts Hold Their Ground
Two major houses reaffirmed their bullish stances a day after the quarterly figures landed. UBS kept its buy rating and a price target of EUR 64.00, while Deutsche Bank Research maintained its buy recommendation and a EUR 63.00 target even as it modestly reduced its earnings estimates. Neither firm changed its rating or its target.
Green Steel Build Stays on Track
On the greentec steel programme, Voestalpine said the electric arc furnaces in Linz and Donawitz are on schedule and within budget. Both are slated to come on stream in the first half of 2027.
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