Ford shares skid despite a bullish 2022 outlook, article with image

A man stands near the Ford logo during a media day for the Auto Shanghai show in Shanghai, China April 19, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

DETROIT, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N) ended 2021 with $36 billion in cash, a crop of hot-selling new electric vehicles and a bullish forecast for revenue and profit growth this year, but that was not enough for investors.

Ford shares dipped as much as 5% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the automaker’s fourth-quarter income fell short of analysts’ expectations and the company forecast a slower recovery in 2022 vehicle production than rival General Motors Co. (GM.N)

The sour response to Ford’s results presents a challenge to Chief Executive Jim Farley, who is trying to accelerate the company’s pivot toward electric vehicles.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Ford said it has 275,000 orders for its electric F-150 Lightning, Transit vans and Mustang Mach-E utility vehicles, and expects to double electric vehicle production capacity to 600,000 vehicles a year by 2023.

Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said during a call with reporters that Ford expects 2022 earnings before interest and taxes to grow by 15% to 25%, outpacing the predicted 10-15% increase in vehicle production. Ford should hit an 8% pretax profit margin this year, a year ahead of schedule, he said.

But investors sold shares after Ford’s fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 26 cents fell 19 cents short of the 45 cents analysts were expecting, according to Refinitiv I/B/E/S.

Earlier this week, General Motors forecast a 25-30% production increase for this year compared with last year, and operating profit of $13 billion-$15 billion.

“While the 4Q print is a disappointment, we believe the more critical takeaway from the print is a solid ’22 guide,” Credit Suisse analyst Dan Levy wrote in a note.

Lawler said the fourth-quarter result reflected worse-than-expected supply-chain problems.

“There are supply-chain disruptions that can impact any one of us in a quarter,” he said. “You have to look at long term.”

Ford enters 2022 in a stronger financial position than it has enjoyed in years. The company said it has $36 billion in cash and $52 billion in liquidity. Those numbers include Ford’s stake in electric truck and van maker Rivian Automotive Inc (RIVN.O), valued at $10.6 billion at the end of 2021.

Despite a forecast that costs for steel, resins and other raw materials will rise as much as $1.5 billion to $2 billion, Lawler said Ford is confident it can boost production and hold strong prices to deliver pretax profit between $11.5 billion and $12.5 billion.

Ford plans to use some of its cash hoard to ramp up capital spending in 2022 to $7 billion to $8 billion from $6.2 billion in 2021, and execute $1.8 billion to $2.4 billion in restructuring.

For all of 2021, Ford reported an operating profit of $10 billion, and an operating margin of 7.3% for the year. Full-year net income of $17.9 billion included a gain on its investment in Rivian.

Fourth-quarter net income rose to $12.3 billion from a $2.8 billion loss a year ago. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes rose to $2.0 billion from $1.7 billion a year ago.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting by Paul Lienert and Ben Klayman in Detroit
Writing by Joseph White
Editing by Matthew Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Go to Source