LG Electronics proves resilience through solid Q1 earnings guidance

LG Electronics' booth at MCE 2026 in Milan, Italy, March 25 / Courtesy of LG Electronics

LG Electronics on Tuesday provided its earnings guidance for the first quarter of this year, predicting an operating profit of 1.67 trillion won ($1.1 billion) and 23.73 trillion won in sales.

Operating profit and sales rose 32.9 percent and 4.4 percent year-on-year, respectively, with the company posting a record-high quarterly revenue. Its operating profit also beat market expectations, as its cost-cutting efforts and effective response to United States tariffs paid off.

The company suffered an operating loss in the fourth quarter of last year due to setbacks stemming from the tariffs and other economic uncertainties, but achieved a swift rebound in profitability just three months later, demonstrating solid fundamentals.

LG Electronics did not reveal a breakdown of earnings of its business divisions. However, the company noted that its Home Appliance Solution (HS), Media Entertainment Solution (MS) and Vehicle Solution (VS) divisions all showed stable growth, though its Eco Solution (ES) division, which handles heating ventilation and air conditioning, saw a slowdown.

LG Electronics said its HS division sustained growth by targeting both premium and volume segments, while expanding the share of online sales and appliance subscription services. The company said it will further accelerate efforts to innovate its cost structure amid continued increases in raw material prices. It also said it will continue to foster future growth drivers such as home robots and robot components.

The MS division significantly improved profitability from a year earlier while continuing efforts to enhance operational efficiency. The company added that its webOS platform business is also growing rapidly.

The VS division continued to post stable growth backed by its order backlog, the company said. The division also benefited in part from the weaker won, given its high exposure to overseas clients.

Shinhan Investment & Securities analyst Oh Kwang-ho estimated that sales of the HS, MS, VS and ES divisions reached 6.9 trillion won, 5.2 trillion won, 3.1 trillion won and 2.8 trillion won, respectively. He expected the first three divisions to have each posted a single-digit operating margin.

“Despite global economic concerns, the company achieved a turnaround in both sales and profit,” Oh said. “The improvement in standalone operating margins through cost structure optimization is encouraging, while the recovery in the previously underperforming MS division is driving growth.”

LG Electronics will announce its fixed financial results for the first quarter during an earnings call on April 29.

Meanwhile, LG Group’s battery unit, LG Energy Solution, said it expected to swing to an operating loss of 207.8 billion won for the first quarter, while it projected sales to fall 2.5 percent year-on-year to 6.56 trillion won. Despite a solid performance in its energy storage system business, the company appears to have been unable to offset sluggish electric vehicle demand.