Guggenheim analyst Ali Faghri initiated coverage last night on the Auto Suppliers with a cautious sector view. The automotive sector is facing increasing cyclical pressures globally, says Faghri, who forecasts flat to negative global industry production volumes through 2021. This creates a challenging operating environment for auto suppliers, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Faghri believes Europe represents the most significant risk to the group's outlook, pointing out that his work suggests "macro headwinds and disruptive emissions regulations will significantly impact vehicle demand in the region over the next few years." The analyst initiated coverage of Aptiv (APTV) and Gentex (GNTX) with Buy ratings. For Aptiv, he sees high single-digit organic growth through 2022 driven by active safety and electric vehicle content gains. For Gentex, the analyst sees upside to 2019 consensus due to stronger gross margins and visibility for continued above market growth. Faghri rounded out his coverage with Neutral ratings on BorgWarner (BWA), Delphi Technologies (DLPH), Lear (LEA), Visteon (VC) and Veoneer (VNE).

JPMorgan lowered the firm's price target on Visteon to $145 from $146 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. To reflect the "modestly softer than expected" trend in global light vehicle production during the quarter, the firm lowered Q1 estimates for auto supplier EBITDA by an average of 1% and earnings by 3%, resulting in new estimates that are on average 2% below the Street on EBITDA and 3% lower on earnings. However, the firm increased full year estimates for most suppliers, saying the outlook for full year production has improved since the time of Q4 earnings, and because of the material decline in automotive commodity prices during Q1, which should primarily benefit suppliers beginning in Q2.