Ford's Q2 Beat Gets Overshadowed By Slow EV Progress

After its Detroit peer, General Motors GM raised the with its quarterly results earlier this week, Ford Motor F delivered second quarter earnings that topped Wall Street’s estimates while also raising its full year guidance. However, the results that Ford reported on Thursday were the result of strong pricing and the demand for its internal combustion engine vehicles. Meanwhile, its EV transformation is going slower than expected and therefore, Ford isn’t getting any closer to challenging the dominance of the EV king, Tesla Inc TSLA.

Second Quarter Highlights

The Blue Oval automaker generated $45 billion in revenue during the April to June quarter, which translates to a 12% YoY rise. The revenue increase included a 39% rise in the EV business with automotive revenue amounting to $42.43 billion and topping the expected $40.38 billion.

Ford earned a net income of $1.92 billion, or 47 cents per share, substantially up last year’s comparable quarter when it earned $667 million, or 16 cents per share. Adjusted EBIT jumped from last year’s $3.72 billion to $3.79 billion while adjusted margin melted from 9.3% to 8.4%. Adjusted EPS amounted to 72 cents, significantly topping the expected 55 cents.

Segments

This was the second quarterly report in which Ford broke down its financial results by business units.

Ford Blue that covers the traditional business operations earned $2.31 billion while Ford Pro commercial business earned $2.39 billion. However, the EV unit lost $1.08 billion.

Uplifted 2023 guidance but also a warning of a greater EV loss

Ford is now expecting full-year adjusted earnings to be between $11 billion and $12 billion, improving the previously guided range between $9 billion and $11 billion. Adjusted free cash flow has also been lifted from $6 billion to a range between $6.5 billion to $7 billion.

As for the EV business, Ford is now expecting to lose $4.5 billion as it warned of slower than expected adoption. It previously anticipated roughly $3 billion. Capital expenditures are expected within the $8 billion and $9 billion range.

Slow EV Progress Overshadowed The Q2 Beat

Also on Thursday, CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson evaluated Ford’s EV production growth a disappointing, while also warning that labor negotiations with the United Auto Workers are another reason for caution. Ford CEO Jim Farley admitted that the legendary automaker has more work to do in order to do, specifically aimed at reducing costs, improving quality and streamlining its operations. On a more positive note, Farley also said that persisting supply chain disruptions are now easing. During the reported quarter, Ford dropped the price of its electric F-150 pickup, following the discounting footsteps of Tesla to boost demand. Ford also joined the Tesla charging network, gaining access to the best EV charging infrastrucutre and technology. But it's still nowhere near to challenging Tesla on the EV front.

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