Traton lifts low end of outlook amid growing US truck orders, shares pop

July 23 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's truck unit Traton raised the lower end of its 2026 growth outlook on Thursday, after a 141% uptick in U.S. orders drove up its half-year order intake.

The truckmaker's shares jumped more than 8% to an all-time high of €39.56 per share by 0816 GMT.

Traton now expects its sales revenue to be at least flat or grow by up to 7% this year, instead of the previously given range of -5% to +7%. It also hiked its full-year forecast for operating return on sales to between 6.3% and 7.3%, from 5.3% to 7.3% previously.

Its overall order intake grew 30% from a year ago to 181,900 vehicles, as pent-up demand caused by market uncertainty led to soaring orders in the United States in the first half of 2026.

Analysts from Jefferies and JPMorgan also highlighted a catch-up effect of €120 million ($137 million) from U.S. tariff refunds at Traton's American subsidiary International Motors.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that import duties imposed last year by President Donald Trump using an economic emergency law were illegal, enabling affected companies to seek refunds, though a 25% tariff on heavy trucks, issued under a different law, remains in place.

While Traton supplies the U.S. market mainly through its Mexican manufacturing sites, covered by the USMCA free trade agreement, the non-U.S. content of those imports is still subject to the 25% tariff.

Its European order intake rose by 10% in the first half of 2026. However, orders from Germany lagged behind other countries, as the German fiscal stimulus did not translate into order gains in Traton's home market.

Meanwhile in Brazil, it was able to benefit from an increase in a government financing programme, with new subsidies helping to boost overall truck orders in South America by 22%.

($1 = €0.8754)

(Reporting by Simon Ferdinand Eibach and Emanuele Berro in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)