MILAN — Ferrari said it would raise this year’s core earnings forecast after a strong set of results in the third quarter, the first since new CEO Bendetto Vigna started in his role.
Full-year adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for 2021 would come in at around 1.52 billion euros ($1.76 billion), the automaker said.
The company’s previous guidance was between 1.45-1.50 billion euros.
“The strong third quarter results are an important step forward towards the upward revised 2021 guidance,” Vigna said in a statement on Tuesday.
The company was seeing a “record order intake” worldwide, particularly in China and the U.S., he said.
Adjusted EBITDA grew 12 percent in the third quarter to 371 million euros. Revenue increased 19 percent to 1.053 billion euros.
However, the company took a cautious stance on full-year revenue, saying it would come in at 4.3 billion euros or lower, compared to the previous forecast of around 4.3 billion euros.
Vigna is under pressure to put Ferrari on course for electrification. The industry outsider joined from chipmaker STMicroelectronics in September and investors are eager to hear about his strategy for the era of battery technology and digital services.
Ferrari has been slow to embrace batteries and plans to unveil its first fully electric vehicle in 2025, Chairman John Elkann said earlier this year. In contrast, Porsche’s popular Taycan has been on the road since 2019.
The Italian manufacturer will brief investors on its future strategy during a capital markets day next year. It will also start sales of its first-ever SUV, the Purosangue, in 2022 — years after Bentley’s Bentayga and Lamborghini’s Urus.
In June, Ferrari unveiled its second plug-in hybrid car, the 819-hp 296 GTB, though many analysts still consider the pace of electrification to be too slow.
Ferrari shares have climbed about 10 percent this year, giving the company a market value of roughly 3 billion euros.