Shares of Autoliv (ALV) soared today, closing up 12.26% to $127.14, on news that the company’s Board of Directors has authorized management to conduct a strategic review of splitting the current company into two new companies focused on passive auto safety and auto electronics.
Autoliv is a member of my Jubak Picks portfolio. Since adding it to the portfolio on April 29, 2016, the shares are up 3.82% as of today’s close. As of this post, I’m raising the current market price of $120 to $134.
Splitting up the company would release value, the market believes, by separating the slower growing passive auto safety business from the very hot auto electronics operation. The total addressable market for the passive auto business–airbag systems, steering wheels, and seat belts–is projected to grow to $25 billion in 2025 from $20 billion in 2017. Analysts forecast that Autoliv’s passive safety unit will grow faster than the market as a whole.
On the other hand, the total addressable market for the auto electronics business–automotive radars, auto cameras, driver assist systems, night vision systems, and positioning systems, all of which are necessary ingredients for self-driving cars, plus restraint control, sensing and brake systems–is projected to grow to $40 billion in 2025 from $20 billion in 2017.
In its press release announcing the study of the split Autoliv said that any separation of the company would take about a year.
