American Axle (AXL) posted a net loss of 18 cents before special items in the third quarter of the year. This is better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 37 cents per share. Net sales dipped 22% to $409.6 million. However, in absolute terms, it is the highest quarterly sales of the year. The lower sales were on the back of a 18% decline in customer production volumes for the North American light truck and sport utility vehicle (SUV) programs that American Axle currently supports for GM and Chrysler. American Axle’s content-per-vehicle (measured by the dollar value of its product sales supporting GM's North American light truck and SUV programs and Chrysler's Heavy Duty Dodge Ram pickup trucks) fell to $1,396 from $1,453 in the third quarter of 2008. Non-GM sales constituted 18.3% of total sales in the reported quarter. The company’s non-GM ...

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (...

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (AXL) is a leading supplier of driveline systems, modules and components for the light vehicle market. The company makes axles, driveshafts and chassis components for light trucks, sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and passenger cars.The present condition of the North American automotive industry characterized by slow car sales, production cuts, excessive inventories, rising commodity costs, and market share losses of leading U.S. automakers are affecting the company negatively.Despite the company's attempts to diversify its customer base, General Motors (GM) still accounts for about 70% of current sales and is constantly implementing production cuts. To make matters worse for AXL, it is exposed to platforms that have faced the maximum cuts. AXL's largest vehicle programs at General Motors and Chrysler account for nearly 90% of the company's total revenues.Meanwhile, AXL has been adversely impacted by rising commodity ...

American Axle (AXL) is a leading supplier of driveline systems, modules and components for the light vehicle market. The company makes axles, driveshafts and chassis components for light trucks, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), and passenger cars.On October 16, American Axle announced that it plans to invest $40 million to build its first plant in Thailand as part of its drive to expand production in Asia. The 120,000 square feet plant, located on the Hemaraj industrial estate in the eastern province of Rayong, will begin production in April 2010.Weak SUV demand is greatly affecting American Axle's sales. Furthermore, high commodity costs and pricing pressure as well as production cuts by OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) such as General Motors (GM) remain causes for concern. Thus, we rate the stock a Sell and set a six-month target price of $1.50.Read the full analyst ...