Mercedes-Benz Preps Investor Call as Cost-Cutting Talks and Paris Premieres Collide

Mercedes-Benz holds a pre-close investor call Thursday as Q3 results loom October 28; Deutsche Bank trims its target to EUR 70 while keeping Buy.

Mercedes-Benz will hold a half-hour pre-close call with investors and analysts on Thursday, a routine briefing ahead of its third-quarter report that lands squarely in the middle of a turbulent stretch for the Stuttgart automaker. The stock was trading at EUR 40.78, and the detailed Q3 2026 figures are not due until October 28.

The call covers ground the company has already made public, but the backdrop is anything but comfortable. Sentiment across the auto sector is strained heading into earnings season: the ifo business climate index for Germany's automotive industry fell 13 points in September to minus 35.

Deutsche Bank Trims Target, Keeps Buy Rating

Deutsche Bank Research analyst Tim Rokossa cut his price target on Mercedes-Benz to EUR 70 from EUR 73 on September 29, while leaving his "Buy" rating in place. Rokossa pointed to structural challenges in the Chinese market, which he described as the biggest and most fundamental hurdle facing the entire industry. He does not expect the third-quarter numbers to shift the sector's prevailing narrative.

The shares have lost 32% since the start of the year, according to one reading of the stock's performance, with a Tuesday close of EUR 40.54 leaving the price just 2.9% above its 52-week low. A separate tally puts the year-to-date decline at 33%.

Labor Costs Emerge as a Second Front

While the market waits for hard numbers, attention is also fixed on internal cost-cutting discussions. WirtschaftsWoche reported that management is weighing options to reduce labor costs at the German sites by EUR 800 million, including longer working hours without extra pay and cuts to bonus payments. The company did not confirm that figure and said talks are ongoing.

At a works meeting in Stuttgart, executives stressed the need for savings. According to media reports, one proposal on the table would extend the weekly working time from 35 to 38 hours at unchanged pay. Until the quarterly results arrive on October 28, cost structure and sales trends remain the two factors that will define the company's near-term trajectory.

Product Offensive Takes Center Stage

Even as the financial pressure mounts, Mercedes-Benz is pushing its higher-margin model lines into the spotlight at the start of the fourth quarter. The Zoute Grand Prix in Belgium opens Wednesday and runs through October 11, where the company will give Belgian audiences their first public look at the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe, the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class and the electric Mercedes-Benz VLE. A global campaign for the new four-door AMG coupe, fronted by actor Brad Pitt as brand ambassador, kicked off Monday.

The Belgian event is the first in a string of show appearances before year-end. From October 12 to 18, the automaker will attend the Paris Motor Show, where further show premieres are planned, including versions of the GLA and GLE as well as the AMG CLA 45. Those presentations come alongside tie-ins beyond vehicle manufacturing: a limited edition of the adidas Samba OG x Mercedes-Benz sneaker becomes available to order from October 13.

On the technology side, Mercedes-Benz is advancing the equipment in its upper-class models. Since Tuesday, the fully electric EQS sedan can be ordered with a steer-by-wire steering system. The company bills itself as the first German manufacturer to bring this purely electronic steering technology to the road in a series-production passenger car.

Investors will get a detailed look at the group's operating condition in a few weeks, when Mercedes-Benz Group AG publishes its interim report for the third quarter of 2026 on October 28, accompanied by a conference for analysts and investors.