Ford Motor Co. shares rose on Friday, with Wall Street overlooking a quarterly loss of nearly $ 3 billion, and sales fail to focus on the automaker’s plans to invest more in electric and self-driving cars.
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Late Thursday, it reported a broader loss in the fourth quarter and quarterly sales that were below Wall Street expectations, but revealed a brighter outlook in the first quarter and said it would almost double its investment in electric and autonomous vehicles.
“We were very encouraged” by them, Emmanuel Rosner told Deutsche Bank in his note on Friday.
The company’s operational performance in the second half of 2020 and the 2021 guide “suggest that the company could turn a corner with profitability and cash generation, benefiting from new and refreshed products, strong prices and mixes, and global reductions and efficiencies.” of costs, “he said.
Ford’s plan to invest in electric vehicles and self-driving cars has grown to $ 29 billion, including $ 22 billion for electric vehicles by 2025. This shows that CEO Jim Farley “really accelerates the company’s transformation into an electrified future and logged in”.
Read: Electric vehicles will account for a larger share of U.S. retail vehicle sales, says Edmunds
Ford is taking “bolder and more decisive action on EV (and AV),” Joseph Spak told RBC Capital in his note. Ford “pulls a GM” and intensifies investment. This is absolutely necessary. ”
Ford’s valuation of about $ 45 billion has been overshadowed by TSLA’s Tesla Inc.
$ 800 billion and the CEO of General Motors Co.,
$ 79 billion. Of course, Tesla only produces electric vehicles, and GM is committed to doing the same by 2035 and becoming a carbon-neutral company by 2040.
A unifying concern with Ford, however, was the news that the production of the new F-150 pickup, vehicle no. 1 sold in the US for decades in a row and one of the company’s crown jewelry, was hampered by the lack of chips. The company temporarily reduced factory trade.
Ford guided adjusted earnings in 2021 before interest and taxes of around $ 7.1 billion and $ 8.1 billion, which was “decent” given the lack of chips, said Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley on a note.
Ford shares have gained 40% in the last 12 months, compared to gains of about 17% for the S&P 500 index. SPX,