Honda raises full-year profit outlook despite auto chip shortage

Honda Motor Co. has boosted its operating profit outlook for the current fiscal year, a sign sales are progressing well despite the global chip shortage that is disrupting the auto industry's supply chain. The automaker is targeting an operating profit of ¥520 billion ($5 billion) for the 12 months through March, compared with a prior forecast for ¥420 billion, it said in an exchange filing Tuesday. That compares with analysts' average projection for ¥469 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The rosier-than-expected outlook comes as a global chip shortage is straining many automakers. Housebound consumers have ramped up purchases of personal computers, tablets and video games, depleting semiconductor supplies that are essential to the technology needed in modern-day cars.