Stock in Ford Motor is up after the company said it would introduce the anticipated all-electric F-150 pickup truck later this month.
Courtesy Ford
Ford Motor stock is up after the company announced exactly when it would introduce its all-electric F-150 pickup truck to the public.
Ford (ticker: F) will unveil the F-150 Lightening on May 19 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Shares were flat on the day and jumped about 1%, to $11.91, in midday trading when the news hit. The S&P 500, for comparison, is down about 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up about 0.8%.
The 1% reaction might seem small, but the truck is still a ways off. Analysts expect it to arrive at dealerships in early 2022.
Investors care a lot about the electric F-150. Ford and General Motors (GM) earn the bulk of their profits from pickup trucks. And investors are anxious to see both companies defend market share against electric-vehicle makers offering pickup trucks of their own. Tesla (TSLA), for instance, is due to begin selling its avant-garde Cybertruck later this year.
Pricing will be key. Ford must also show, along with defending market share, that it can make solid profits selling electric trucks. Tesla, the most valuable EV maker in the world, only recently started producing consistent profits after the company was shipping hundreds of thousands of EVs annually.
Ford didn’t immediately return a request for comment about pricing.
Recently, Ford has committed more money to EV development, like the rest of the auto industry, and appears to have scored an early victory with its all-electric Mustang crossover vehicle, which has been reviewed well by the industry. The company plans to invest about $22 billion in vehicle electrification through 2025.
The commitment to EVs, and improved profitability, has helped Ford stock gain about 35% year to date, easily beating comparable returns of the broader stock market.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
