(BFM Stock Exchange) – The bank went from “keeping” to “buy” on action this Wednesday, June 25. Jefferies believes that group A of the field to relaunch itself by filling the empty of its product portfolio and evokes the possibility for the company to reposition or even remove brands.

In just over a year, Stellantis has gone from the status of the automotive superstar with insolvent margins to that of a great sick man in the sector.

Plusted by high stocks in the United States that the group reduced in pain on the end of last year, Stellantis lost market share in the last quarters and has launched new products qualified as “difficult” by Oddo BHF.

This logically resulted in a plunge of its revenues by 17% in 2024. Its current operating margin went from 12.8% in 2023 to 5.5% in 2024 and the manufacturer from the merger of Peugeot SA with Fiat Chrysler was even loss on the second part of 2024.

All these difficulties ended up caught up with Carlos Tavares, who resigned from his post as director general at the end of 2024. After a six -month vacancy, his successor, the Italian Antonio Filosa, a Fiat Chrysler veteran who notably led the “Americas” regions of Stelllantis, was appointed at the end of May.

The new pilot of the group also presented its new management team on Monday, with some changes compared to the time of Carlos Tavares.

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A trusted signal

The new management team has in any case strong to do to win back a market that has taken stellantis in flu. Especially since in suspicion of its internal problems, the automotive group faces the threat of American customs duties on imports of automotive products as well as on steel and aluminum. Over a year, the action plunges 55.6%. The title even loses 70% compared to its highest affected in March 2024.

In view of this calamitous stock market, returning to the action requires boldness. However, this is what Jefferies recommends, who went from “to keep” to “buy” on the title, this Wednesday, June 25, with a target of courses noted at 11.5 euros against 9 euros before. This target grants a potential of 44% compared to Tuesday’s fence.

This important signal of trust propels the action Stellantis which returned to 4.1% this Wednesday on the Paris Stock Exchange, signing the highest increase in CAC 40.

Admittedly, the next few days will still be difficult for the group at 14 car brands. “The first semester 2025 seems to mark a low point in terms of results and cash flow, with North America which should be just above the profitability threshold, a margin for activities in Europe around 2%, and 1.4 billion euros in burned cash” lists Jefferies. The establishment anticipates income down 7.5% and a common operating margin of 2.8%.

However, Jefferies consider that first “encouraging” data suggest that the group’s dynamics are about to reverse. Even if it will take time to the company to regain lost market share.

Since the merger between Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot SA, effective in January 2021, Stellantis has lost between five and six market points in North America. This is explained by “decisions in terms of products too often taken according to costs (elimination of the Jeep Cherokee), insufficient differentiation of brands (…) and an excessive price policy, distorted by the experience of the covid”, points out Jefferies.

The bank attributes these decisions to the fact that Carlos Tavares was intolerant of losses and obsessed with costs and had less “the sense of the product”. This made it complicated if not impossible for him the good management and good coordination of 14 brands, many of which remain generalist.

An improved product portfolio

However, Stellantis began to take care of the “problems on the products he has inflicted himself”, underlines Jefferies. The group has realligned its prices, now in line with the competition while the group has, in the past, caught by excess of pride on ‘pricing power’.

“The Product Mix was put back online with market demand, especially at RAM with the launch of L’Express, an entry -level model at a price less than $ 45,000 to replace the ‘Classic’, the launch of the 10 -year warranty supply and the return of the upper versions such as Hemi in North America,” explains Jefferies.

For the bank, RAM constitutes the right barometer in terms of recovery of brands of Stellantis, because this brand has lost 10 market points on its segment compared to the period before COVVID and saw its sales fall by 40% in volumes, against a decline of 15% from Ford and an increase of 9% at General Motors.

In addition, “Stellantis is starting to fill the gaps in its portfolio in North America, starting with the Cherokee (a Jeep model, editor’s note) in the third quarter, which will be followed by the compass and a medium-sized pick-up, probably in 2026”, explains Jefferies.

“In Europe, the challenge has consisted in producing and delivering models built on the new Stla platforms, such as the Grande Panda de Fiat, in more affordable segments. The progress made translated into recent market gains. We also note the return of initiatives of products such as GTIs (sports models, editor’s note) at Peugeot”, also observes the design office.

Threatened brands?

Jefferies believes in passing that Stellantis could re -examine the relevance of its 14 brands. “The horses between brands like Peugeot/Opel or Fiat/Citroën seem to have limited the coverage of the national preferences”, notably points out the bank.

However, deleting brands is not necessarily the best solution. “Better defining them and more specializing them could create more value than eliminating them and we expect Stellantis to rationalize its offer without losing in size,” said the bank. Certain brands could however disappear or focus on a product due to external elements that would reduce their outlets to sorrow, such as customs duties.

Jefferies notes that Stellantis quickly identified the risk of Chinese competition in Europe. Its partnership established in 2024 with Leapmotor could in this sense “give it an advantage”. Stellantis is responsible for the sale of Chinese manufacturer’s vehicles in Grosso Modo all the countries of the world with the exception of China. This partnership “propelled Stellantis to the front headquarters on Chinese competitiveness without having a large local presence in China”, observes Jefferies.

“Collaboration with Leapmotor could accelerate the development of electric vehicles with an extension of autonomy according to the evolution of regulations in Europe and promote the conquest of market share in other regions, especially in Latin America”, develops the design office.

The bank also expects that Antonio Filosa will make rapid decisions. Jefferies considers that reducing the industrial capacities of the company is certainly “inevitable” and believes that building a competitive technological platform remains “an in progress site” at Stellantis.

According to Reuters, the director general told the group staff on Wednesday that he started to review the company’s long -term strategic plan, called “Dare Forward 2030”.

All of this has something to encourage you to position itself on a group whose valuation is scrapped. Currently, the course is exchanging with a multiple of four times the benefits expected in 2026 while the company enjoys a solid financial report and many changes are expected, points out the bank.

For action, “the risks are now bullish on a group which, more than once, has challenged adversity and has shown a sense of value and a capital allowance higher than those in the sector”, concludes Jefferies.