Ford Stock Is Putting The Pedal To The Floor Wednesday: What's Going On?

Ford Motor Co F shares are trading higher Wednesday after the automaker reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

What Happened: Ford’s fourth-quarter revenue increased 4% year-over-year to $46 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of $39.53 billion, according to Benzinga Pro. The company reported quarterly earnings of 29 cents per share, which beat estimates of 13 cents per share.

Ford Blue sales were flat in the fourth quarter, while Ford Model e sales increased 2% and Ford Pro sales jumped 11%.

Ford noted that it has $14.9 billion in operating cash flow for all of 2023 and generated adjusted free cash flow of $6.8 billion during the year. The company ended the fourth quarter with close to $29 billion in cash.

"We're the only company that gives customers such a wide range of choices – gas, hybrid and electric vehicles – made possible by our Ford+ plan and the talented team that's carrying it out," said Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford.

"Ford is creating a product, software and services powerhouse with huge potential for this year and the long haul."

Ford announced a first-quarter regular dividend of 15 cents per share and a supplemental dividend of 18 cents per share. The dividends will be payable on March 1 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 16.

Ford guided for full-year adjusted EBIT of $10 billion to $12 billion. The company expects full-year free cash flow to be in the range of $6 billion to $7 billion. Capital expenditures are expected to be between $8 billion and $9.5 billion.

"We're seeing green shoots of quality improvement, including in our new-product launches – with several important ones coming up this year," said Kumar Galhotra, CFO of Ford.

"Across our global industrial system we've identified and will land $2 billion in cost reductions, in areas like material, freight and manufacturing – and we're just getting started."

Check This Out: Ford Labels Tesla, Chinese Rivals As ‘Ultimate Competition’ As It Sharpens Focus On Smaller EVs, Adopts GM Hybrid Playbook

F Price Action: Ford shares rallied about 4% on Tuesday ahead of the report. The stock was up another 5.88% at $12.78 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: courtesy of Ford.