By Danilo Masoni
MILAN (Reuters) -Shares in Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p) rose over 6% on Tuesday after call with analysts fuelled bets that the German car maker might unveil fourth-quarter sales above current market expectations when it discloses results in March.
The rise briefly set the stock for its biggest one-day gain in eleven months, outperforming European auto stocks and Germany's benchmark DAX index. Volkswagen shares rose 5.6% on the day by 1553 GMT, while the DAX fell 0.2%.
Stifel analyst Daniel Schwarz said the call delivered a confident message on the fourth quarter and 2024. One trader said the pre-close statement was a relief, given the recent stock battering.
"Our take-away is clearly positive regarding Q4 and 2024. VW says that Q4 revenues benefit from higher unit sales. Accordingly, revenues should be up sequentially and y-o-y and probably exceed current consensus estimates of 80 billion euros," he wrote in an email to clients.
"VW made a few comments on 2024. S&P expects global volumes to increase by around 3% and VW should probably grow in line with that," he added.
Against these comments, Schwarz said consensus estimates seemed too low.
Volkswagen did not reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.
Including Tuesday's gains, Volkswagen has fallen by over 9% in the last 52 weeks, while the DAX has risen 10% in the same period.