Ford shares fall on expectations of higher EV losses; Morgan Stanley expects ‘major changes’ to EV strategy

Investing.com — Ford Motor lifted its guidance Thursday after reporting second-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations

Still, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:) shares fell nearly 2% in pre-open Friday after the company said it expects to see losses from electric vehicles (EVs) hit $4.5 billion this year, up from the prior forecast of $3B.

“The transition to EVs is happening, it just may take a little longer,” CFO John Lawler said.

“It will be a little slower than the industry expected,” he added.

The automotive company EPS of 72 cents on revenue of $45B. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of 53 cents on revenue of $43.04B.

Looking ahead, the company lifted its full-year 2023 adjusted EBIT to between $11B and $12B from $9B to $11B previously.

The company also raised its expectations for full-year adjusted free cash flow to between $6.5B and $7B, with capital expenditures of between $8B and $9B.

While Ford Model e – the business segment which hosts EV operations – saw a negative forecast revision, Ford raised Ebit projections for its two other segments – Ford Blue and Ford Pro.

Morgan Stanley analysts said the company’s legacy ICE business fueled a solid beat.

“We expect major changes to Ford’s EV strategy may be necessary,” they said in a note.

Evercore ISI analysts commented:

“Ford had a VERY high Q2 “beat & raise” bar post-GM and they certainly hurdled it on near-term numbers…the debate will remain, though, to what extent investors will question “peak vs plateau” legacy pricing as well as incorporate a more difficult EV transition.”

(Additional reporting by Senad Karaahmetovic)