Ford stock was gaining after reporting earnings Wednesday.
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Ford Motor stock is rising after the company reported a far better quarter than General Motors did earlier in the day. Ford managed to beat profit projections, just like its peer did, but Ford also raised full-year profit guidance, something GM couldn’t do.
Ford (ticker: F) reported a profit of 51 cents a share and $3 billion in operating profit from $37.5 billion in sales. Wall Street was looking for about 27 cents in per-share earnings and $1.7 billion in operating income from $38.2 billion in sales.
More important, financial guidance looks solid. Ford raised full-year operating profit guidance to a new midpoint of about $11 billion from a prior midpoint of about $9.5 billion. That implies $2.1 billion in fourth-quarter operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2021. The Street is projecting about $2 billion in Q4 operating profit.
Ford stock is up about 3.9% in after-hours trading.
Ford shares dropped 2.7% in regular market hours Wednesday after General Motors (GM) reported earnings Wednesday morning. GM beat, but unlike Ford, the company didn’t raise full-year operating-profit guidance. With the money GM had already made in the first nine months of the year, the implied fourth-quarter operating profit of about $1.1 billion to $2.1 billion looked light. Analysts had been projecting about $2.3 billion in fourth-quarter operating profit. GM stock dropped 5.4% Wednesday, while the S&P 500 declined 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%.
Both companies have been impacted by a lack of chips. Despite production woes, however, both stocks are doing well. GM stock is up about 30% year to date. As of Wednesday’s closing price of $15.52, Ford stock has gained about 77%.
Ford management hosts a conference call at 5 p.m. eastern time to discuss results. Investors and analysts will want to hear about the chip shortage and how 2022 is shaping up.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
