Hitachi Construction Machinery sales, outlook drop amid uncertainty

Japanese equipment manufacturer Hitachi Construction Machinery felt the impact of tariff-related uncertainty in its fiscal first quarter as sales revenue in North America and Japan fell, resulting in a decline in total revenue and a lowering of its full-year outlook. 

Hitachi’s revenue for the first quarter fell 6.7% year over year to 306.2 billion yen ($2.1 billion) due to the strong yen and lower sales in North America, the company said in today’s earnings release. The North American market represented 23.3% of the company’s revenue during Q1, down 1.5 percentage points YoY. 

“In North America, the outlook remains uncertain due to continued high interest rates and U.S. tariff policies, and the market environment remains challenging,” according to today’s earnings release. “While the market environment deteriorated in Japan and Oceania, sales remained steady in Europe and Asia, which are showing signs of recovery.” 

Hitachi, along with its fellow Big 3 Japanese construction OEMs, Kubota and Komatsu, faces production and economic headwinds despite last week’s trade deal between the U.S. and Japan.  

Hitachi expects the impact of tariffs to result in a $57.6 million reduction to operating income for fiscal 2025, according to the earnings presentation. 

Read more about the challenges facing Japan’s Big 3 Construction OEMs here  

BY THE NUMBERS: Hitachi reported the following results for its fiscal Q1, which ended June 30:  

• North American revenue declined to $492.4 million, down 12.6% YoY; 

• Construction machinery revenue decreased to $1.9 billion, down 7.9% YoY; 

• Total revenue slipped to $2.1 billion, down 6.7% YoY; 

• Construction adjusted operating income fell to $136 million, down 32.4% YoY; 

• Total adjusted operating income was $153 million, down 31.9% YoY; 

• Income from trade/lease receivables was $212.3 million, down 12.6% YoY; and 

• Net income plummeted to $92.7 million, down 49.8% YoY. 

Hitachi tariff plan post trade-deal 

As a result of the tariffs and the company’s Q1 performance, Hitachi lowered its total revenue and revenue across several regions for fiscal year 2025, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Keiichiro Shiojima said during the call.  

“Consolidated revenue is expected to decrease by [$503.7 million] from the previous announcement as of April 2025 due to the upswing in costs and slowdown of demands caused by the US tariff impact,” he said. “Consolidated revenue for fiscal year 2025 is expected to decrease mainly in the Americas, Japan, and Oceania due to the slowdown of demands caused by the US tariff impact.” 

Read more about the U.S.-Japan trade deal here   

MARKET REACTION: Shares of Hitachi (TYO: 6305) were down 0.9% to $29.66 as of market close today. It has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion.   

Editor’s note: All amounts have been converted to U.S. dollars.  

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