Visitors walk past a Ford Escape Titanium at the Shanghai Auto Show in Shanghai on April 17, 2019.
Greg Baker | AFP | Getty Images
DETROIT – Ford Motor plans to invest $ 29 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025, the company announced Thursday as it posted better-than-expected earnings in the fourth quarter.
Wall Street waited for Ford to pour more money into emerging technologies after General Motors announced last year plans to increase spending on all-electric and autonomous vehicles to $ 27 billion between 2020 and 2025.
Ford said its plans include $ 7 billion for self-driving vehicles and $ 22 billion for electrified vehicles, from $ 11.5 billion through 2022. The company also takes into account previous investments of approximately $ 7 billion at the new height since 2016.
Ford said much of the vehicles under the plan will be all-electric, but the company also has hybrid and plug-in hybrids that will continue to use traditional internal combustion engines.
The company’s bottom line was mixed. Here’s how Ford compared to Wall Street expectations based on Refinitiv’s average estimates.
- Adapted EPS: 34 cents versus an expected loss of 7 cents
- revenue: $ 33.2 billion versus $ 33.89 billion expected
Ford shares rose as much as 4% after close of trading Thursday before falling to around $ 11.40, up less than 1%.
Outlook for 2021
In 2021, CFO John Lawler estimates the company will generate adjusted pre-tax profits between $ 8 billion and $ 9 billion and adjusted free cash flow between $ 3.5 billion and $ 4.5 billion. That doesn’t take into account the global semiconductor chip shortage, which he said could cut Ford’s earnings by $ 1 billion to $ 2.5 billion this year.
“The semiconductor situation is constantly changing, so it is premature to attempt to determine its size
Availability will mean for our full year performance, “he said in a press release.” Currently, supplier estimates could suggest losing 10% to 20% of our planned production in the first quarter. “
Ford said earlier Thursday that it would significantly cut production at plants in Michigan and Missouri that produce its profitable F-150 pickups next week due to a global shortage of semiconductor chips.
Automakers and suppliers warned of a semiconductor shortage late last year after vehicle demand rose faster than expected following a two-month shutdown of production facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Fourth Quarter Results
On an unadjusted basis, Ford’s loss in the fourth quarter rose to $ 2.79 billion, or a loss of 70 cents per share, after a loss of $ 1.67 billion or a loss of 42 cents per share in the same three Months of 2019.
Ford excluded special charges of more than $ 5 billion from its adjusted quarterly earnings. They included $ 2.4 billion to stop production in Brazil as part of a South American business restructuring and $ 610 million to recall 3 million older vehicles due to potential problems with their airbag inflators. The other charges related to pension obligations and other restructuring measures.
Ford’s fourth quarter results were led by its North American operations, which raised $ 1.1 billion on sales of $ 22 billion. All other segments except Europe with a profit of $ 414 million lost money for the automaker. This included a loss of $ 105 million in South America and a loss of $ 66 million in China.
