AURORA, Ont. -- Shares in Magna International Inc. (MG.TO) rose by as much as 4.6 per cent on Thursday despite the auto parts maker cutting its sales forecast for the year and reporting lower second-quarter sales and earnings.

The stock traded as high as $67.40, up $2.99, on Thursday morning, before receding.

"We posted solid second quarter sales and adjusted diluted earnings per share despite a challenging global production environment," said chief financial officer Vince Galifi on a conference call, citing higher costs in its active driver assistance systems business, lower equity income and the impact of divestitures and foreign currency translation due to the strong U.S. dollar.

"Overall, our results came in slightly ahead of our internal expectations for the quarter."

On an organic basis, sales increased five per cent compared to a six per cent decline in global vehicle production, said Galifi. But the company said total sales including currency translation and divestitures decreased by one per cent to US$10.1 billion.

The company, which reports its financial results in U.S. dollars, released a 2019 sales outlook range that's $200 million lower than previous guidance at between $38.9 billion and $41.1 billion.

The outlook changes are "relatively minor," Galifi said on the call, and include lower assumptions for light vehicle production volumes in each of its principal markets in North America, Europe and China.

Adjusted earnings were also lowered, by 10 basis points to between 6.6 and 6.9 per cent, mainly reflecting a reduction in seating systems division margins. Capital spending was reduced to $1.6 billion from about $1.7 billion.

The results were "mostly" in line with expectations, said analyst Peter Sklar of BMO Capital Markets.

"We estimate that excluding the FP&C (Fluid Pressure and Controls) divestiture (in March), Magna's adjusted operating income was approximately flat year-over-year, which supports our investment thesis that during periods of flat-to-declining global light vehicle production, it is difficult for auto parts manufacturers to grow earnings," he wrote in a report.

Magna's net income was $452 million on revenue of $10.13 billion, down from $626 million on $10.28 billion of revenue in last year's second quarter.

Adjusted net income fell to $509 million or $1.59 per share, from $590 million or $1.67 per share.

The results beat analyst estimates of $9.88 billion of revenue and $489 million or $1.53 per share of adjusted net income, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.