Lear Reports Second Quarter 2025 Results

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., July 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Lear Corporation (NYSE: LEA), a global automotive technology leader in Seating and E-Systems, today reported results for the second quarter 2025.

Second Quarter 2025 Highlights

• Delivered revenue of $6.0 billion in the second quarter, in line with $6.0 billion in the second quarter of 2024
• Net income of $165 million and adjusted net income of $188 million, compared to $173 million and $206 million, respectively, in the second quarter of 2024
• Core operating earnings of $292 million, compared to $302 million in the second quarter of 2024
• Earnings per share of $3.06 and adjusted earnings per share of $3.47, compared to $3.02 and $3.60, respectively, in the second quarter of 2024
• Net cash provided by operating activities of $296 million and free cash flow of $171 million, compared to $291 million and $170 million, respectively, in the second quarter of 2024
• Cash and cash equivalents of $888 million and total liquidity of $2.9 billion at quarter end
• Delivered strong operating performance in both segments, generating ≈45 basis points in Seating and ≈70 basis points in E-Systems
• Restoring full year guidance with expectation for revenue of $22,470 to $23,070 million and core operating earnings of $955 to $1,095 million
• Increasing total company full year net performance by ≈$25 million, while offsetting the dilutive effect on margins from tariff recoveries
• Refinanced our $2 billion revolver, extending its maturity through July 2030
• Repurchased $25 million of shares and paid $41 million in dividends
• Extended agreement with Palantir Technologies to continue enhancing IDEA capabilities
• Awarded a conquest complete seat program in Asia with BMW and two conquest awards for seat components with Ford
• Awarded conquest wire business with a global EV automaker for two key programs launching in late 2025
• One ComfortMax Seat^TM and two ComfortFlex^TM awards, including key programs with a luxury EV automaker, combining heat, ventilation, and pneumatic lumbar and massage
• Awarded complete seat programs with key Chinese domestic automakers: conquest business with FAW and new business with Leapmotor and XPeng

"Lear continued its momentum from the start of the year through the second quarter, with strong operating performance driving solid margins in both business segments," said Ray Scott, Lear's President and CEO. "Our investments in automation and restructuring will extend our industry leadership in operational excellence and drive sustainable margin improvement that will allow us to continue returning capital to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends."

In the second quarter, global vehicle production was up 3% compared to a year ago, with North America down 3%, Europe down 2% and China up 9%. Global vehicle production was flat on a Lear sales-weighted basis⁽²⁾.

Sales in the second quarter were $6.0 billion, flat year-over-year. Excluding the impact of commodities, foreign exchange, tariff recoveries, and acquisitions and divestitures, sales were down 1%, reflecting lower production on key Lear platforms, partially offset by the addition of new business in both of our business segments.

Core operating earnings were $292 million, or 4.8% of sales, as compared to $302 million, or 5.0% of sales, in 2024. Earnings were impacted by lower production on key Lear platforms, offset by positive operating performance and the addition of new business. Net income was $165 million, as compared to $173 million in 2024.

In the Seating segment, margins and adjusted margins were 6.4% and 6.7% of sales, respectively. In the E-Systems segment, margins and adjusted margins were 3.5% and 4.9% of sales, respectively. 

Earnings per share were $3.06 and adjusted earnings per share were $3.47, as compared to $3.02 and $3.60, respectively, a year ago.

In the second quarter of 2025, net cash from operating activities was $296 million, and free cash flow⁽¹⁾ was $171 million.

⁽¹⁾ For more information regarding our non-GAAP financial measures, see "Non-GAAP Financial Information" below.

⁽²⁾ The global and regional production changes are based on S&P Global estimates. The production change on a Lear sales-weighted basis is calculated using Lear's prior year regional sales mix and second quarter fiscal calendar. Management believes this provides a more meaningful comparison of the Company's global revenue growth relative to global vehicle production.

Share Repurchase Program
During the second quarter of 2025, Lear repurchased 271,117 shares of our common stock for a total of $25 million. At the end of the second quarter, we had a remaining share repurchase authorization of approximately $1.0 billion, which reflects approximately 18% of our total market capitalization at current market prices.

Since initiating the share repurchase program in 2011, we have repurchased 59.6 million shares of our common stock for a total of $5.6 billion at an average price of $94.53 per share. This represents a reduction of approximately 57% of our shares outstanding since the time we began the program.

2025 Financial Outlook
We are restoring full year 2025 financial guidance. Below is our updated outlook. At the midpoint of our guidance range, we have assumed that global industry production will be 2% lower than in 2024 on a Lear sales-weighted basis, consistent with our prior guidance. The industry volume assumptions underlying Lear's 2025 financial outlook are derived from several sources, including internal estimates, customer production schedules and the most recent S&P Global Mobility production estimates for Lear's vehicle platforms. We have updated our foreign exchange rate assumptions to better reflect the weakening U.S. dollar.

Contractual agreements allowed us to recover substantially all of the costs associated with new tariffs incurred in the first half of the year. Our full year financial outlook assumes the continuation of these recovery agreements through the second half of the year.

The financial outlook is based on a full year average exchange rate of $1.11/Euro and 7.23 RMB/$.

Certain of the forward-looking financial measures above are provided on a non-GAAP basis. The Company does not provide a reconciliation of such forward-looking measures to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP because to do so would be potentially misleading and not practical given the difficulty of projecting event-driven transactional and other non-core operating items in any future period. The magnitude of these items, however, may be significant.

Second Quarter 2025 Conference Call and Webcast Information
A conference call and webcast will be held to discuss Lear's second quarter 2025 financial results and related matters on July 25, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. EDT. The webcast link for the conference call will be available through Lear's investor relations webpage at ir.lear.com. In addition, the conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-877-883-0383 (domestic) or 1-412-902-6506 (international) with Conference I.D. 9523449. The webcast replay will be available two hours following the call.

Non-GAAP Financial Information
In addition to the results reported in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP) included throughout this press release, the Company has provided information regarding "pretax income before equity income, interest, other expense, restructuring costs and other special items" (core operating earnings or adjusted segment earnings), "pretax income before equity income, interest, other expense, depreciation expense, amortization of intangible assets, restructuring costs and other special items" (adjusted EBITDA), "adjusted net income attributable to Lear" (adjusted net income), "adjusted diluted net income per share attributable to Lear" (adjusted earnings per share) and "free cash flow" (each, a non-GAAP financial measure). Other expense includes, among other things, non-income related taxes, foreign exchange gains and losses, gains and losses related to certain derivative instruments and hedging activities, gains and losses on certain disposals of fixed assets and the non-service cost components of net periodic benefit cost. Adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share represent net income attributable to Lear and diluted net income per share attributable to Lear, respectively, adjusted for restructuring costs and other special items, including the tax effect thereon. Free cash flow represents net cash provided by operating activities, less capital expenditures. 

Management believes the non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release are useful to both management and investors in their analysis of the Company's financial position and results of operations. In particular, management believes that core operating earnings, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share are useful measures in assessing the Company's financial performance by excluding certain items that are not indicative of the Company's core operating performance or that may obscure trends useful in evaluating the Company's continuing operating activities. Management also believes that these measures provide improved comparability between fiscal periods. Management believes that free cash flow is useful to both management and investors in their analysis of the Company's ability to service and repay its debt. Further, management uses these non-GAAP financial measures for planning and forecasting future periods.

Core operating earnings, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income attributable to Lear, diluted net income per share attributable to Lear, cash provided by operating activities or other income statement or cash flow statement data prepared in accordance with GAAP or as a measure of profitability or liquidity. In addition, the calculation of free cash flow does not reflect cash used to service debt and, therefore, does not reflect funds available for investment or other discretionary uses. Also, these non-GAAP financial measures, as determined and presented by the Company, may not be comparable to related or similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Set forth below are reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding anticipated financial results and liquidity. The words "will," "may," "designed to," "outlook," "believes," "should," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "intends," "estimates," "forecasts" and similar expressions identify certain of these forward-looking statements. The Company also may provide forward-looking statements in oral statements or other written materials released to the public. All statements contained or incorporated in this press release or in any other public statements that address operating performance, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 29, 2025, and its other Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Future operating results will be based on various factors, including actual industry production volumes, supply chain disruptions, labor disruptions, commodity prices, changes in foreign exchange rates, the impact of, and our ability to mitigate the effects of, international trade policies, including trade policies such as tariffs and any changes to such tariffs, the impact of restructuring actions and the Company's success in implementing its operating strategy.

Information in this press release relies on assumptions in the Company's core sales backlog. The Company's core sales backlog reflects anticipated net sales from formally awarded new programs less lost and discontinued programs and excludes the impact of non-core products winding down in our E-Systems business. The Company enters into contracts with its customers to provide production parts generally at the beginning of a vehicle's life cycle. Typically, these contracts do not provide for a specified quantity of production, and many of these contracts may be terminated by the Company's customers at any time. Therefore, these contracts do not represent firm orders. Further, the calculation of the core sales backlog does not reflect customer price reductions on existing or newly awarded programs. The core sales backlog may be impacted by various assumptions embedded in the calculation, including vehicle production levels on new programs, foreign exchange rates and the timing of major program launches.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update, amend or clarify them to reflect events, new information or circumstances occurring after the date hereof.

About Lear Corporation
Lear Corporation (NYSE: LEA) is a global automotive leader in Seating and E-Systems. The company designs, manufactures, and delivers advanced technologies to the world's major automakers. Building on more than 100 years of heritage, Lear is the largest U.S.-based automotive supplier, headquartered in Southfield, Michigan. Driven by a commitment to innovation, operational excellence, and sustainability, Lear's global team of talented employees is shaping the future of mobility by developing solutions that enhance comfort, safety, and efficiency. More information is available at Lear.com.

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SOURCE Lear Corporation