JOST Werke ETR: JST reported record results for the first half of 2026, with sales rising 12% to €857 million and adjusted EBIT increasing 21% to €88 million. The company’s adjusted EBIT margin improved to 10.3%, placing it within its strategic target range of 10% to 12%.
Chief Executive Officer Joachim Dürr said organic sales increased about 9%, supported by growth across all three regions and business lines. He also said the integration of Hyva was progressing as planned, with cross-selling synergies increasing and helping support profitability.
Second-quarter sales rose 13% to €440 million, while adjusted EBIT grew 19% to €44 million. The quarterly adjusted EBIT margin increased by 0.5 percentage points to 10.0%. Free cash flow was €17 million in the second quarter despite higher working capital needed to support sales growth, Dürr said.
Regional growth offset uneven market conditions
JOST reported organic growth in each of its regions despite mixed underlying markets. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, organic sales rose 5.6% in the first half, aided by agricultural and transport products. The company said the truck and trailer market grew modestly, while tractor and hydraulics markets saw only slight growth.
In the Americas, organic sales increased 9.9% despite declines in North American and Brazilian truck, trailer and tractor markets. Dürr attributed the performance to new agricultural customers, trailer market-share gains in North America and cross-selling benefits. The Americas generated €225 million in first-half sales, an all-time high for the region, according to Chief Financial Officer Oliver Gantzert.
Gantzert said the company saw sequential improvement in specialty trailers and entered the second half with a strong order book in the Americas. He said the North American market had begun to recover.
Asia-Pacific organic sales grew 14.6%, with growth across business lines and subregions. The company benefited from Chinese customers increasing exports and from improving demand in India. First-half sales in the region reached a record €223 million, while adjusted EBIT rose 30% to €34.4 million and the adjusted EBIT margin reached 15.4%.
JOST said transport sales grew 6% organically, supported by new North American trailer business, Chinese export activity, demand in India, resilient EMEA demand and the European launch of its Bus Link product. Agriculture was the fastest-growing business line, rising 22% organically, driven by project ramp-ups in South America and Asia-Pacific, improving U.S. dealer business and demand for agricultural loaders and implements in EMEA.
Organic hydraulics growth was 6%, supported by U.S. cross-selling synergies, demand in Brazil and the U.S., and gradual adoption of ePTOs and digital tipping systems in Asia-Pacific.
Margins and capital efficiency improve
For the first half, adjusted net income increased 80% to €53 million, while adjusted earnings per share rose 10% despite a higher number of shares outstanding. In the second quarter, adjusted net income rose 19% to €25 million and adjusted earnings per share increased 7% to €1.48.
Return on capital employed rose 3.5 percentage points year over year to 16.3%. The company’s leverage ratio improved to 1.81 times, returning to JOST’s strategic range of one to two times, while its equity ratio increased to about 27% following a capital increase and net income generation, despite the payment of €25 million in dividends.
Free cash flow totaled almost €60 million in the first half. Gantzert said working capital had increased with business growth and as the company maintained some supply-chain buffer amid the Middle East conflict. He expects the incremental working-capital build to ease in the second half as growth rates normalize.
JOST spent 2.2% of sales on capital expenditures in the first half and continues to expect full-year CapEx of around 2.8% of sales. Gantzert said the company has flexibility to invest in automation and efficiency projects as some facilities approach capacity limits.
Hyva synergies and cost pressures
The company said Hyva integration costs have reached €18 million since the acquisition was announced, within its previously disclosed €12 million to €24 million range. JOST continues to target annual synergies of €23 million to €28 million from the transaction.
Gantzert said JOST is shifting certain sales previously routed through Hyva International in the Netherlands into the Americas and Asia-Pacific regions as part of a business-model change. While this shifts some reported regional profit away from EMEA, he said the effect is neutral at the group level and should support further cost savings and legal-entity consolidation in Europe.
Management also cited higher logistics and freight costs in EMEA and supply-chain costs in India. Dürr said JOST plans to pass sustained increases through to customers, although OEM pricing adjustments generally operate on three-, six- or previously 12-month cycles. The company has moved remaining 12-month adjustment arrangements to six months, he said.
Outlook confirmed
JOST confirmed its 2026 outlook, expecting sales to grow by a single-digit percentage rate and adjusted EBIT to increase by a mid- to high-single-digit percentage rate. The company expects its adjusted EBIT margin to improve from 9.5% in 2025, with working capital between 17.5% and 18.5% of sales.
Dürr said management expects modest market growth in EMEA for trucks, trailers, tractors and hydraulics during the remainder of the year. In North America, the company increased its outlook for trucks, citing an expected EPA 2027 pre-buy effect and what Dürr described as pent-up replacement demand after below-average production levels.
He said the expected North American recovery was not solely driven by regulatory pre-buying, noting that some OEMs intend to continue using existing engines into 2027. JOST plans to reassess its outlook after receiving updated customer call-off schedules following the vacation period, but management said it remains comfortable with guidance and sees itself at the upper end of its profitability range.
About JOST Werke (ETR:JST)
JOST Werke SE manufactures and supplies safety-critical systems for the commercial vehicle industry. The company offers truck and trailer components, including sensor systems and lubetonic systems, fifth wheel couplings and mounting plates, dual-height fifth wheel systems, sliders, king pins, ball bearing turntables and slewing rings, landing gears, and hubodometers and axle caps; container equipment, such as components for intermodal transports, twist locks, bolsters, airbag lifting devices, and spare wheel holders; and axle systems and its spare parts.
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