FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - BMW investors reacted positively to the carmaker's quarterly report in a weak market environment on Thursday. After initial fluctuations associated with at times more significant Dax losses, the carmaker's share price settled up 1.7 percent. The shares thus performed better than those of competitor Volkswagen, which had also presented figures. The latter's shares were up 0.4 percent.

Both shares, however, outperformed the European sector index Stoxx Europe 600 Automobiles & Parts, whose price should, however, be considered adjusted for the Mercedes-Benz dividend. The discount for the payout also made the shares of the German premium carmaker the visual laggard on the Dax. The payout was 5.20 euros, but the Mercedes share price was recently only about four euros lower.

BMW made in the first quarter in the core business with cars surprisingly much profit from current operations. In addition, the carmaker wants to buy back its own shares worth another two billion euros. According to analyst Daniel Roeska of Bernstein Research, this overshadowed a rather mixed sales performance. At 12.1 percent, the operating margin (Ebit) in the auto segment was well above the target corridor of 8 to 10 percent, he said, expressing positive surprise.

Nevertheless, BMW confirmed its annual targets, which made some experts wonder. According to Tom Narayan of Canadian bank RBC, this could fuel worries about a normalization of high car prices. A similar picture had previously been painted by the quarterly reports of U.S. companies General Motors and Ford. He therefore questioned whether industry profits might have already peaked last year in 2022.

Volkswagen, meanwhile, exceeded expectations, but expert Patrick Hummel of UBS qualified that the figures were of rather low quality due to a positive effect from the accounting of research and development expenses. He also expressed doubts about the price trend for the vehicles and future profitability in the field of electric drives.

In an initial reaction, analyst Michael Punzet of DZ Bank saw his positive stance on both BMW and Volkswagen confirmed. He emphasized favorable valuations of the two shares. However, BMW is doing quite well in the Dax environment this year, with its share price up 24 percent, while Volkswagen shares have only gained seven percent so far./tih/men/mis