Continental Q2 2026: Q2 beat, FY guidance ‘only‘ reiterated not raised

Research evidence excerpt

Continental Q2 2026: Q2 beat, FY guidance ‘only‘ reiterated not raised

STEIN FLASHMAIL

4 August 2026

Harry Martin, CFA

+44 20 7676 8965

European Automobiles & Components harry.martin@bernsteinsg.com

Continental AG Steve Pereira Fernandes, CFA

+44 20 7676 7254

Rating steve.pereira-fernandes@bernsteinsg.com

Market-Perform Gali Salvatorelli Naraghi

Price Target +44 20 7676 6741

gali.salvatorelli-naraghi@bernsteinsg.com

CON.GR 73.00 EUR

Stephen Reitman

+44 20 7762 5535

stephen.reitman@bernsteinsg.com

Continental Q2 2026: Q2 beat, FY guidance 'only' reiterated not

raised

Continental reported Q2 results this morning. There is a conference call at 12:30pm CEST (11:30am UK time).

Overall take. With ContiTech now moved to discontinued operations after the €4bn sale was agreed in July, the focus is rightly on the

remaining tyre segment. Q2 saw a nice 5% EBIT beat driven by strong price/mix and a raw material tailwind taking Q2 margins above

15%. The main debate into reporting has been on guidance with many investors expecting a FY guidance upgrade on the back of the

Q2 strength, understandable since H1 tyre margins were 14.9% vs the existing FY guide of 13.0-14.5%. This has not happened, with

FY guidance reiterated for the tyre segment at €13.2-14.2bn revenue & 13.0-14.5% margin, mathematically implying H2 margins in

the 11.5-14.0% range (down potentially 300 bps YoY). As well as the Middle East-driven raw material cost inflation (where Continental

previously expected a “low-to-mid triple-digit million” gross impact, a number not reiterated today as far as we can see), it will also

justify this having taken down some market volume assumptions for H2 due to lower expected car production & weaker replacement

markets (we note peers have also done this).