Fiat Chrysler Automobiles assembly workers build 2019 Ram pickup trucks at the FCA Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, October 22, 2018.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
Shares of Fiat Chrysler seesawed Friday after the company reported disappointing first-quarter earnings but said it’s still on track to meet its 2019 profit target.
U.S. shares of the Italian and American company dropped as much as 2.8% before surging 6% in intraday trading.
The automaker said slowing sales in North America and Europe drove profit south. However, it said, sales of new U.S. pickup trucks, including the Jeep Gladiator and Ram models, would help lift its 2019 profit target of more than 6.7 billion euros ($7.5 billion).
Sales of its popular line of Ram trucks jumped 22% year over year as overall U.S. sales fell 3.1% during the first three months of the year.
Fiat Chrysler also reported that its first-quarter net profit fell 47% from the same time period a year prior, dropping to 508 million euros ($568 million) from 951 million euros ($1.06 billion) during the same quarter last year.
In addition, earnings per share failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations, coming in at 40 cents (0.36 euros) compared with analysts’ estimates of 52 cents (0.47 euros).
Fiat Chrysler’s stock has climbed 10.17% so far this year. In the past 12 months, the stock has declined 29.17%.
