Ford (F) will report its first quarter results after the bell on Wednesday. Its evolving product development plan will be at the forefront, focusing on gasoline and hybrid offerings to offset heavy spending on electric vehicles.
The results come after GM reported strong first-quarter results and upgraded its full-year profit outlook. Investors will be looking to see if Ford can match that performance.
For the quarter, Ford is expected to report revenue of $40.04 billion, according to the Bloomberg consensus, a result that would be 3.5% lower than a year ago. Ford is also expected to post adjusted earnings per share of $0.42 on adjusted EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of $2.54 billion. Ford’s results are expected to be slightly better than the fourth quarter, when the company was dealing with the lingering effects of the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike.
Last year, Ford divided its operations into three units: Ford Blue, for traditional gasoline-powered automobiles; Ford Model e, for the EV division; and Ford Pro, for its commercial and super-duty truck business. Here is the expected distribution:
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Ford Blue: $24.57 billion in revenue, $1.65 million in EBIT
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Model e: $1.22 billion revenue, $1.36 billion EBIT loss
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Ford Pro: $15.28 billion in revenue, $2.19 billion in EBIT
During the first quarter, Ford deepened its efforts in its gasoline and hybrid vehicles, with spending and production of electric vehicles taking a back seat. Earlier this month, Ford announced that it was pushing back production of electric vehicles at its massive BlueOval City electric vehicle campus in Tennessee to 2026, from its original start date of 2025. Ford also revealed that he is “rescheduling” the launch of upcoming electric vehicles at its Oakville, Ont., plant, where it plans to build next-generation three-row electric vehicles, and most likely a full-size SUV. The company aims to launch these vehicles in 2027, pushing back the original timeline of 2025.
Ford also said earlier in the quarter that it add a third shift to increase production of its Bronco SUV and midsize Ranger pickup to meet customer demand. Meanwhile, Ford is focusing on its hybrid offerings, like the Maverick pickup and the all-new F-150 with hybrid powertrain.
This was reflected in Ford’s policy US deliveries in the first quarter which jumped 6.8% to 508,083 vehicles, driven by strong sales of electrified products such as hybrids. Ford’s Maverick hybrid pickup truck had its best quarter on record, with sales up 77% in the first quarter. Maverick also propelled overall hybrid sales to a 42% jump, to 38,421, with Ford saying it was also the best quarter for hybrids and that momentum would continue.
Even Ford’s electric vehicle offerings – the Mustang Mach-E, Ford Lightning EV and its E-Transit commercial vans – have resisted the recent trend of slowing demand. Ford’s overall electric vehicle portfolio saw a massive 82% increase to 20,223 electric vehicles sold in the first quarter, with the Mustang Mach-E jumping 77.3% to 9,589 units sold and the Lightning pickup …
