Toyota Motor Corp. has maintained its profit outlook for the current year, underscoring the carmaker¡¯s concerns over its ability to produce vehicles amid parts shortages, rising material costs and pandemic disruptions in China, and even as a weaker yen boosts income in its home currency.

Toyota shares fell as much as 3.9% after the world¡¯s biggest automaker kept its forecast for operating profit of ?2.4 trillion ($18 billion) for the fiscal year through March, short of analysts average projection of ?3.3 trillion. Profit also fell short of estimates in the April-June quarter, at ?579 billion versus the prediction of ?808 billion.

Semiconductor shortages, higher raw material costs and curbs related to COVID-19 in China have caused turmoil at auto assembly lines across the globe.

Three months ago, Toyota said it would implement an ¡°intentional pause¡± in output during the April-June quarter to be more ¡°in line with recent realities.¡± Even so, the carmaker is sticking to its plan to assemble 9.7 million vehicles for the year.

¡°They didn¡¯t reach market estimates; it just wasn¡¯t enough, and disappointing,¡± said Seiji Sugiura, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research. ¡°They saw no benefits from the weaker yen, they didn¡¯t make more cars and cost measures didn¡¯t seem to have much of an impact.¡±

While the weaker currency helped to boost reported income by ?195 billion, that was outweighed by soaring material prices, which had a negative impact of ?315 billion, according to Toyota. Lockdowns in Shanghai and a water supply shortage in Aichi Prefecture also disrupted production over recent months.

¡°It¡¯s Toyota¡¯s style to have a conservative outlook, but unless there are surprises in the coming quarters, it¡¯s likely that we¡¯ll see upgraded views,¡± said Tatsuo Yoshida, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. The results show that Toyota is being proactive in making sure its suppliers remain operationally and financially sound by absorbing many of the cost increases, he added.

Toyota updated its foreign exchange assumption to ?130 to the dollar from ?115. While the prior outlook accounted for the gap between Toyota¡¯s and analysts¡¯ profit views, the conservative forecast suggests Toyota still sees production challenges in the months ahead. In total, operating profit for the fiscal year will get a ?670 billion boost from the weaker currency, Toyota said.

Quarterly sales were ?8.5 trillion, exceeding analysts¡¯ projection for ?8.2 trillion. The full-year revenue outlook was upgraded to ?34.5 trillion from ?33 trillion. Analysts are predicting full fiscal year sales of ?35.2 trillion.

¡°Securing parts such as semiconductors will continue to be unpredictable, but we will strive to achieve production that exceeds our forecast by working closely with our suppliers,¡± Toyota said in presentation materials.