Airbag maker Autoliv Q2 adjusted profit in line with forecast, sees stronger Q4 margin

STOCKHOLM, July 17 (Reuters) - Sweden's Autoliv, the world's largest maker of airbags and seatbelts, reported on Friday a second-quarter operating profit in line with forecasts and predicted its third-quarter margin to remain around first-half levels before improving significantly in the final quarter of the year.

• Adjusted operating profit rose to $270 million from $251 million a year earlier, compared with a mean forecast of $268 million in a company-provided poll.

• The adjusted operating margin increased to 9.6% from 9.3%. For the first six months of the year, the margin was 9.3%.

• Autoliv said it secured customer compensation for more than 80% of tariff costs in the quarter, with its profitability being hit as a result with $7 million.

• While customer compensation would have a limited impact in the third quarter, it said it expected a greater effect in the fourth, supporting a significant improvement in margins in the final quarter.

• Shares - which had been hovering around 1% down ahead of the report - fell as much as 5% after its release

• Pareto Securities analyst Forbes Goldman said the fall may be due to disappointment over the Q3 margin guidance.

• "We would have expected a step up to Q3. As such, it guides for a pretty big step up in Q4 that... brings a little more uncertainty," the Pareto analyst said.

• Jefferies said in a note to clients that the Q3 guidance "leaves quite a lot of work to do in the 4Q"

• "The business environment remains uncertain but our current best estimate for the remainder of the year is to reiterate our full year 2026 guidance," Autoliv CEO Mikael Bratt said.

• The company continues to expect a full-year adjusted operating margin of around 10.5% to 11%.

(Reporting by Marie Mannes in Stockholm and Tomasz Kanik in Gdansk, editing by Terje Solsvik)