Why These Ford Analysts Are Concerned About Dearborn's Outlook

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) reported first-quarter adjusted earnings Wednesday of 38 cents per share, beating the consensus estimate of 29 cents per share.

The company also reiterated fiscal 2022 EBIT guidance for between $11.5 billion and $12.5 billion and adjusted free cash flows between $5.5 billion and $6.5 billion, despite higher commodity costs.

RBC Capital Markets On Ford Motor Company: Joseph Spak maintained a Sector Perform rating and price target of $18.

“We had been expecting a need to guide down as costs were rising,” Spak said in a note.

Although Ford “hit (lowered) 1Q22 consensus expectations” and reiterated guidance, this was driven mainly by higher pricing to offset increased costs, the analyst mentioned. He added, however, that this “may not allow F to catch a bid as it is price sustainability that is the concern.”

Wells Fargo On Ford Motor Company: Colin Langan reiterated an Overweight rating for the company while reducing the price target from $25 to $24.

“Ford now expects commodity headwinds of $4B y/y vs. $1.5B-2B prior. Ford largely expecting pricing to offset these incremental costs,” Langan wrote in a note.

“While N America was weak in Q1, it is expected to recover as F-Series supply issues have been addressed, and there are 53K partially assembled vehicles in inventory waiting chips,” he added.

F Price Action: Shares of Ford lost 3.28% to close at $14.16 in Friday's session.