Magna Int'l. (A)MG.TOCOMMENTJun 27, 2017Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 04, 2026. Market Open.
In 2021, they invested heavily in EV, but the demand didn't materialize. Since then, they've suffered that overhang, plus the impact of tariffs. But they fixed these problems with Chinese OEMs and have gained market share in smart door handles and driverless systems. Are gaining market share. Doing a great job.
Very hesitant. Recent recovery has been sharp and quick, almost as though it's factoring in abolition of tariffs completely. We need more clarity on tariffs. Auto industry is highly cyclical and depends on health of the economy, and we're seeing signs of weakening.
If you own it, don't need the cash, and have a 5-10 year time horizon, you should be fine. But there could be further weakness from here.
It won't pull back much from here. Given tariffs, this space is uncertain, but eventually we will settle this tariff war. Auto manufacturing is so emeshed between both countries that it would take a very long time to rejig it. This or Linamar are fine, but Magna pays a higher PE, though trades at a higher price-to-book. Your horizon must be long to own this, like 3-4 years.
Don't yet know how things are going to shake out. Rhetoric is at an all-time high. Short term, it's impacting our economy because the US is our largest trading partner. Reality is that there's a lot of value-added auto manufacturing in both Canada and US; the 2 countries are inextricably linked. Tariffs will be punitive for both Canada and the US.
Hope is not an investment strategy, but we have to hope that rational heads can prevail so that there continues to be a steady flow of goods across our borders.
Auto sales have gone up, up, up and have peaked at around 17.5-18 million vehicles. This is cheap, because it is selling all the products to a world of 17.5 million vehicles. The question is, what is 2018, and more importantly 2019-2020 going to look like. This could then be followed by vehicles driven by robots. His view is that manufacturing will probably go below 17 million vehicles in 12-18 months.