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Ford's Guidance Comes In Below Estimates

TM, GM, F, STLA | March 23, 2017

Shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) were trading lower by more than 1 percent at $11.65 Thursday morning after the company lowered its outlook in a regulatory filing ahead of an investor presentation event.

The report comes at a time when Ford's stock is already under pressure and trading at its lowest levels in not far removed from its 52-week low of $11.07.

Guidance Update

Ford guided its total 2017 adjusted pre-tax profit to around $9 billion, which would mark a decrease from 2016's levels. The report attributed the decrease in income to ongoing investments in emerging opportunities.

Moreover, Ford is guiding its fiscal 2017 earnings per share to a range of $0.30 to $0.35, which also marks a decrease from the same quarter a year ago. The company highlighted higher costs, including commodities, warranty and investments in emerging opportunities as well as lower volume and unfavorable exchange rates.

Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts were expecting Ford to earn $0.47 per share in the fiscal first quarter.

'Let's Chat'

Bob Shanks, Ford's executive vice president and chief financial officer, will host an event on Thursday titled "Let's Chat," which will address and discuss several items of interest to the financial and investment community.

The presentation will begin at 10:00 a.m. ET and will consist of a Shanks' prepared comments following by a question-and-answer session with industry analysts.

Presentation Highlights

Here are some of the notable highlights from Ford's presentation.

Global auto sales for the entire industry are expected to rise from 91.3 million units in 2016 to 92.9 million units in 2017 and 94.6 million units in 2018.
China will continue being the world's largest market but demand may have already plateaued due to receding tax cut benefits this year and next.
Year-to-date trends in the U.S. market shows a more attractive sales mix of higher margin SUVs and trucks.
SUV sales are also expected to rend higher across Europe and China.
Incentives growth in the U.S. remains below the industry average so far this year.
F-150 and Super Duty were singled out as performing "particularly well" this year with year-over-year incentive spending down 0.8 percentage points.
Changes to tax reform, NAFTA renegotiation and infrastructure spending bode well for Ford's positioning.
Efforts to improve European and Emerging Market segments remain ongoing.
Ford Credit continues to produce consistent and predictable results.
Progress continues to be made in the future of automotive, including autonomous driving.