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Ford engine (F) offered a solid outlook for 2024 on Tuesday night after posting much better-than-expected earnings for a fourth quarter marred by the auto workers strike. Ford shares soared in premarket Wednesday, seeking an early entry.
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Ford earnings
Dear: Analysts, on average, expected earnings per share to decline 73% to 12 cents, according to FactSet. Revenue is expected to fall 2%, year-over-year, to $43.062 billion.
The United Auto Workers strike against Ford, General Motors (G.M.) and stellantis (STLA) ended on October 30, when the auto giants made costly concessions.
Results: Ford’s earnings of 29 cents per share, down 43% and marking the first decline in five quarters, were more than double the 12 cents analysts had expected. Revenue of $46 billion, up 4% and also ahead of views.
Ford Blue, the company’s gasoline and hybrid vehicle business, posted fourth-quarter earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $813 million.
Ford Model e, the all-electric vehicle unit, lost $1.57 billion during the quarter, “reflecting an extremely competitive pricing environment,” according to the earnings release.
Ford Pro, the commercial vehicles unit, produced EBIT of $1,811 million in the quarter.
The automaker declared regular and final dividends of 15 and 18 cents per share, respectively, for the first quarter.
panorama: The automaker late Tuesday guided for full-year 2024 adjusted EBIT of between $10 billion and $12 billion, with a midpoint of $11 billion well above FactSet consensus views of $9.65 billion of dollars. It also forecasts higher-than-consensus free cash flow (FCF) of $6 billion to $7 billion.
On January 30, archrival GM offered a bullish outlook.
Ford Stock Performance
Ford Motor shares rose 5.9% to 12.78 in early trading on the stock market today. F shares rose 4.3% on Tuesday.
Ford stock has found resistance at its 200-day moving average after reclaiming the 50-day line in late January. Its post-earnings jump suggests a possible move back above the 200-day line on Wednesday, which could mark an early entry for risk-tolerant investors.
Shares of GM and STLA posted gains in the range of 1% to 2% on Tuesday. Stellantis reports fourth quarter on February 15.
Toyota shares rose 7.8%. ToyotaEngine (M.T.) on Tuesday forecast a record net profit of $30.3 billion for the fiscal year ending in March, thanks to higher global sales of hybrid vehicles. The move put TM shares nearly 14% above a 194.43 buy point after a breakout in January.
Tesla shares saw a modest rebound on Tuesday, still near multi-month lows.
Hybrid electric vehicles increase, battery electric vehicles decrease
Traditional automakers continue to reduce their big bets on “pure” or battery electric vehicles (BEVs). They report growing demand for hybrid vehicles, while industry-wide BEV sales growth has slowed.
In January, Ford’s hybrid electric vehicle sales continued to boost its overall new vehicle sales, continuing the momentum seen in the final quarter of 2023.
Amid record hybrid sales, Ford’s 2023 sales totaled 1,995,912 vehicles, up 7% from 2022 and the best since 2020, capped by a slight fourth-quarter gain despite the labor strike. Combustion vehicles still accounted for 90% of total sales in 2023.
While many customers are interested in purchasing BEVs, they are not willing to pay premiums for them compared to hybrid or gasoline vehicles, industry observers say. That has hurt prices and profitability of BEVs, Ford has said.
GM is now bringing back hybrid vehicles, covering its previous pursuit of all-electric vehicles.
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