Rising EV Shift Will Undermine Legacy Revenue Base

Key Takeaways

• Heavy reliance on internal combustion engine programs increases vulnerability as EV adoption and regulatory shifts reduce demand for traditional driveline components.
  
• Planned merger and industry consolidation heighten financial and operational risks, while under-investment in innovation threatens future relevance and margin stability.
  
• The acquisition of Dowlais, strategic EV investments, and strong localization efforts position AAM for diversified growth, operational efficiencies, and resilient profitability amid evolving industry trends.

Catalysts

Designs, engineers, and manufactures driveline and metal forming technologies that supports electric, hybrid, and internal combustion vehicles.

• The ongoing accelerated transition to electric vehicles-the very megatrend AAM references as a growth engine-actually poses a material threat, since most EVs require significantly fewer traditional driveline and powertrain components, which form the core of American Axle's legacy revenue base. As OEMs move forward with more vertically integrated EV platforms, AAM's outsized dependency on ICE and hybrid programs heightens the risk of structural revenue contraction over the next decade.
  
• Despite management's confidence in a longer ICE tail in the North American and certain global markets, policy, technology, and regulatory progress in emissions standards are rapidly eroding the mid
• and long-term relevance of internal combustion engine platforms, increasing the likelihood of retooling costs and margin compression as legacy programs sunset.
  
• The planned Dowlais merger may provide short-term scale, but it exacerbates AAM's exposure to customer concentration and cyclical regional auto demand, while combined balance sheet leverage post-close-expected around three times EBITDA-significantly diminishes financial flexibility. This magnifies risk in a structurally declining ICE environment and could limit the ability to reinvest or withstand market downturns, putting long-term net margin and earnings growth under pressure.
  
• Industry-wide consolidation and OEM efforts toward localizing and internalizing supply chains give automakers greater bargaining power, leading to pricing pressure and further threatening AAM's already modest EBITDA margins, especially as their portfolio remains heavily geared to commoditized products vulnerable to displacement by newer technologies.
  
• The need for accelerating R&D investment is colliding with both declining volumes in legacy programs and a tightening cost environment: while AAM reported lower R&D as a margin lever for the year, under-investment raises the likelihood of technological obsolescence, diminishing future product relevance in higher-growth EV and advanced mobility markets and thus weighing on long-term revenue and profit growth opportunities.

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Future Earnings and Revenue Growth

Assumptions

• This narrative explores a more pessimistic perspective on American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings compared to the consensus, based on a Fair Value that aligns with the bearish cohort of analysts.
• The bearish analysts are assuming American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings's revenue will decrease by 0.3% annually over the next 3 years.
• The bearish analysts assume that profit margins will increase from 0.7% today to 1.7% in 3 years time.
• The bearish analysts expect earnings to reach $100.7 million (and earnings per share of $0.88) by about August 2028, up from $40.9 million today. The analysts are largely in agreement about this estimate.
• In order for the above numbers to justify the price target of the more bearish analyst cohort, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 7.7x on those 2028 earnings, down from 16.7x today. This future PE is lower than the current PE for the US Auto Components industry at 16.7x.
• Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to grow by 0.92% per year for the next 3 years.
• To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 12.32%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Future Earnings Per Share Growth

Risks

• The pending acquisition of Dowlais is expected to significantly expand AAM's size, scale, and customer/geographic diversification, which could create substantial cost synergies and stronger free cash flow, ultimately supporting earnings growth and a potentially higher share price.
  
• American Axle's proactive investment in electric drive technology, validated by securing the Scout Motors program for both e-Drive units and e-Beam axles, positions the company to capture new electric vehicle business and drive long-term revenue growth as electrification accelerates.
  
• The company's established buy and build local strategy and high USMCA compliance for supplies help manage tariff risks and enable AAM to capture reshoring and localization opportunities from both North American and international automakers, which could translate into higher sales and more stable net margins.
  
• The combination with Dowlais will accelerate operational efficiency initiatives and offer more opportunities for manufacturing optimization, which, together with ongoing cost controls, is projected to continue driving margin expansion and improved quality of earnings.
  
• Consumer preference for ICE and hybrid vehicles, along with recent changes in government policy slowing full EV adoption in North America, enhances the longevity and profitability of AAM's core products and leverages its existing asset base, supporting stable or growing cash flows over the long term.

Valuation

• The assumed bearish price target for American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings is $4.5, which represents the lowest price target estimate amongst analysts. This valuation is based on what can be assumed as the expectations of American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings's future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors from analysts on the more bearish end of the spectrum.
  
• However, there is a degree of disagreement amongst analysts, with the most bullish reporting a price target of $7.5, and the most bearish reporting a price target of just $4.5.
  
• In order for you to agree with the bearish analysts, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be $5.9 billion, earnings will come to $100.7 million, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 7.7x, assuming you use a discount rate of 12.3%.
  
• Given the current share price of $5.74, the bearish analyst price target of $4.5 is 27.6% lower. Despite analysts expecting the underlying buisness to improve, they seem to believe the market's expectations are too high.
  
• We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.