Ford tops first-quarter earnings estimates as commercial unit offsets EV losses

DETROIT
—
Sales
of


Ford
Motor
trucks
and
other
commercial
vehicles
led
the
automaker
to
beat
Wall
Street’s
earnings
estimates
for
the
first
quarter,
offsetting
losses
of
its
electric
vehicles.

The

company
maintained
its
2024
earnings
guidance
of
adjusted
earnings
before
interest
and
taxes,
or
EBIT,
of
between
$10
billion
and
$12
billion.
It
slightly
lowered
capital
expenditure
expectations
and
raised
its
adjusted
free
cash
flow
outlook
for
the
year.

The
automaker
now
expects
to
generate
adjusted
free
cash
flow
of
$6.5
billion
to
$7.5
billion,
up
from
a
previous
outlook
of
$6
billion
to
$7
billion.
Its
forecast
for
capital
expenditures
is
now
$8
billion
to
$9
billion,
narrower
than
the
$8
billion
to
$9.5
billion
range
it
originally
estimated.

Ford
Chief
Financial
Officer
John
Lawler
on
Wednesday
described
the
quarter
as “solid,”
with
the
company
tracking
to
the
higher
end
of
its
previously
announced
guidance.

While
the
automaker
beat
earnings
estimates,
it
slightly
missed
on
automotive
revenue.
Here
are
the
results
for
Ford’s

first
quarter,
compared
with
Wall
Street
expectations,
according
to
LSEG:

• 
  Earnings
  per
  share:
  49
  cents
  adjusted
  vs.
  42
  cents
  expected
• 
  Automotive
  revenue:
  $39.89
  billion
  vs.
  $40.10
  billion
  expected

Ford’s
overall
revenue
for
the
first
quarter,
including
its
credit
business,
increased
about
3%
year
over
year
to
$42.78
billion.

Net
income
for
the
period
was
$1.33
billion,
or
33
cents
per
share,
compared
with
$1.76
billion,
or
44
cents,
a
year
earlier.
Adjusted
EBIT
declined
18%
year
over
year
to
$2.76
billion,
or
49
cents
per
share.

Ford’s
traditional
business,
known
as
Ford
Blue,
reported
adjusted
earnings
that
were
down
66%
compared
to
a
year
earlier
to
$905
million.
Its
Ford
Pro
commercial
business
earned
$3.01
billion,
up
120%
from
the
first
quarter
of
last
year.
Ford’s
Model
e
electric
vehicle
unit
posted
a
$1.32
billion
loss
from
January
through
March.

The
notable
decline
in
Ford
Blue
was
related
to
the
launch
of
the
company’s
refreshed
F-150
pickup,
which

it
held
shipments
of
during
most
of
the
quarter
to
address
undisclosed
quality
issues.

Ford
CEO
Jim
Farley
said
the
company
avoided “about
12
recalls”
thanks
to
the
additional
quality
checks
during
the
stop-shipment,
helping
to
lower
warranty
costs
for
the
company.

“What
we’re
going
to
see
long-term
is
less
recalls
and
lower
warranty
costs
because
of
this
new
process,”
Farley
said
Wednesday
during
the
company’s
first-quarter
earnings
call. “I’m
really
proud
of
the
team’s
progress
and
quality
and
we
have
so
much
more
to
do.”

Ford
has
faced
years
of
inflated
warranty
costs,
including
$1.9
billion
in
2023,
which
have
affected
its
earnings.
The
company
last
year
said
it
has
a
$7
billion
to
$8
billion
annual
disadvantage
compared
to
traditional
rivals
due
to
production
costs,
quality
issues
and
other
operational
inefficiencies.

Ford
previously
said
it
assembled
144,000
of
the
F-150
full-size
and
Ranger
midsize
pickups
during
the
first
quarter
of
the
year.
Those
vehicles

began
shipping
to
dealers
and
customers
earlier
this
month.
Roughly
92%
of the
pickups
built were
F-150s.

As
part
of
its
2024
guidance,
first
released
in
February,
Ford
said
it
expected
its
EV
business
to
lose
between
$5
billion
and
$5.5
billion
this
year.
Ford
Blue
earnings
were
expected
to
be
roughly
flat
at
$7
billion
to
$7.5
billion
for
2024,
while
Ford
Pro
was
expected
to
come
in
around
$8
billion
to
$9
billion
for
the
full
year.

Lawler
said
Ford
remains
on
track
this
year
to
take
$2
billion
in
costs
out
of
the
business
through
reductions
in
things
such
as
materials,
freight
and
manufacturing.
He
said
much
of
those
savings
will
occur
during
the
second
half
of
the
year.

Ford’s
first-quarter
earnings
come
a
day
after
its
crosstown
rival


General
Motors
reported
strong
first-quarter
results
and

raised
its
full-year
guidance.

—
CNBC’s


Michael
Bloom

contributed
to
this
report.