Ford tops first-quarter earnings estimates as commercial unit offsets EV losses

DETROIT — Sales of Ford Motor trucks and other commercial vehicles led the automaker to beat Wall Street’s earnings estimates for the first quarter, offsetting losses of its electric vehicles.

The company maintained its 2024 earnings guidance of adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, of between $10 billion and $12 billion. It slightly lowered capital expenditure expectations and raised its adjusted free cash flow outlook for the year.

The company now expects to generate adjusted free cash flow of $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion – up from a previous outlook of $6 billion to $7 billion. Its forecast for capital expenditures is now $8 billion to $9 billion – narrower than the $8 billion to $9.5 billion range it originally estimated.

While the automaker beat earnings estimates, it slightly missed on automotive revenue.

Here are the results for Ford’s first quarter, compared with Wall Street expectations, according to LSEG:

• Earnings per share: 49 cents adjusted vs. 42 cents expected
• Automotive revenue: $39.89 billion vs. $40.10 billion expected

Ford’s overall revenue for the first quarter, including its credit business, increased about 3% year over year to $42.78 billion.

Net income for the period was $1.33 billion, or 33 cents per share, compared with $1.76 billion, or 44 cents, a year earlier. Adjusted EBIT declined 18% year over year to $2.76 billion, or 49 cents per share.

Ford’s traditional business, known as Ford Blue, reported adjusted earnings that were down 66% compared to a year earlier to $905 million. Its Ford Pro commercial business earned $3.01 billion, up 120% from the first quarter of last year. And Ford’s Model e electric vehicle unit posted a $1.32 billion loss from January through March.

The notable decline in Ford Blue was related to the launch of the company’s refreshed F-150 pickup, which it held shipments of during most of the quarter to address quality issues.

As part of its 2024 guidance, first released in February, Ford said it expected its EV business to lose between $5 billion and $5.5 billion this year. Ford Blue earnings were expected to be roughly flat at $7 billion to $7.5 billon for 2024, while Ford Pro was expected to come in around $8 billion to $9 billion for the full year.

— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.