THE ROAD AHEAD. IN FOCUS.Automotive news & culture
CHIEFS REVIEWAUTO /Machines. People.
The stories that move us.
Industry News / Latest Automotive News

Stellantis Q3 Revenue Rises 1%, but Cash Flow Stays Negative

Published

Illustrative archive image of a vehicle on an automated automotive factory line

Stellantis reported €37.6 billion in third-quarter 2026 net revenue, up 1% from a year earlier, but the automaker remained in the red. Its unaudited results show a €453 million net loss and €4.0 billion of negative industrial free cash flow for the three months ended September 30.

The quarter shows improvement from a difficult 2025 comparison, not a completed turnaround. Stellantis reduced its net loss by 90%, while adjusted operating income rose from €90 million to €256 million. Even so, the adjusted operating margin was just 0.7%, and cash generation remained sharply negative.

Stellantis Q3 2026 results at a glance

  • Net revenue: €37.611 billion, up 1% year over year
  • Net loss: €453 million, versus €4.532 billion a year earlier
  • Adjusted operating income: €256 million, up from €90 million
  • Adjusted operating margin: 0.7%, versus 0.2%
  • Industrial free cash flow: negative €4.009 billion, versus negative €4.304 billion
  • Consolidated shipments: 1.286 million vehicles, down 1%

The smaller loss deserves context. Stellantis said the year-earlier quarter was affected by significant items, so the 90% improvement is partly a function of that unusually weak comparison. For the first nine months of 2026, the company reported a €217 million net profit, but industrial free cash flow was still negative €4.93 billion.

North America improves as Europe turns negative

North American revenue fell 3% to €15.586 billion as shipments declined 12% following planned production downtime. However, the region moved to €64 million of adjusted operating income from a €475 million loss a year earlier. Its margin improved to 0.4% from negative 3.0%.

Stellantis attributed the regional sales performance partly to Ram. The company says Ram 1500 sales rose 73% and the Ram brand’s North American sales increased 30% year over year. Those percentages are manufacturer-reported sales figures; they do not erase the lower shipment and revenue totals for the region.

Europe moved in the opposite direction. Enlarged Europe revenue rose 3% to €14.062 billion, supported by higher volume, yet adjusted operating income swung from a €157 million profit to a €311 million loss. The regional margin fell to negative 2.2% from positive 1.2%.

The company reported that EU30 battery-electric passenger-car sales increased 65%, or 93% when Leapmotor is included. At the same time, Stellantis’ EU30 market share slipped 60 basis points to 14.8% without Leapmotor. That combination suggests strong EV growth inside the portfolio did not translate into broader share gains for the core group.

Tariffs and cash flow remain pressure points

Stellantis reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance for mid-single-digit revenue growth, a low-single-digit adjusted operating margin and improved industrial free cash flow compared with 2025. Management also maintained its expectation of positive industrial free cash flow in 2027. That 2027 outcome is a company forecast, not a guaranteed result.

The company estimates €1.0 billion in full-year net tariff costs, with €600 million incurred through September. It also expects about €1.6 billion of 2026 cash payments tied to charges recorded in the second half of 2025. Stellantis warned of additional fourth-quarter pressure from memory-chip costs and recalls, while forecasting several hundred million euros of quarterly savings from its Value Creation Program.

Management expects fourth-quarter shipments to exceed the third-quarter total and says year-end North American inventory should be near its December 2025 level. Those assumptions are important because a normal seasonal working-capital contribution is part of the path toward the company’s cash-flow guidance.

How this updates the earlier shipment report

Stellantis had already disclosed that third-quarter shipments fell 1% as Europe gained and North America declined. The October 28 results add the missing financial picture: modest group revenue growth, a much smaller loss and better adjusted profit, but continued cash burn.

The European data also follows Chiefs Review’s report on Stellantis and Leapmotor’s EU30 registration share through September. Together, the figures show why separating Stellantis’ core brands from Leapmotor matters when comparing market-share and EV-growth claims.

Featured image: illustrative archive photo of an automotive factory; it does not depict a specific Stellantis facility. Photo by Lenny Kuhne via Unsplash, used under the Unsplash License.

Sources