Wall Street has taken a shine to Ford’s growth plans, which under Farley center around EVs such as the F-150 Lightning and generating recurring revenue from subscription services.
Farley and other top executives outlined the strategy in a May capital markets day presentation, a practice that had stopped under Farley’s predecessor, Jim Hackett.
“2021 has been truly a breakthrough year for Ford … easily the most important year strategically for the company since the financial crisis,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, who publicly sparred with Hackett during his CEO tenure for a lack of transparency, said in an investor note in late October. “Ford is convincing the stock market that they have a viable future.”
The latest stock surge comes after Ford last week reported a 24 percent decline in third-quarter net income but increased its guidance and reinstated its shareholder dividend. This week, Ford made a push to regain the investment grade rating it lost at the start of the pandemic by announcing a plan to retire up to $5 billion in high-interest debt and tap into the fast-growing market for “green” bonds to help it finance new EVs and extend credit to customers with lower scores.
Ford isn’t the only traditional automaker feeling the love.
Shares of General Motors hit a post-bankruptcy high of $64.30 in June and are hovering around $60 this week.
GM also has placed big bets on electrification, commercial vehicles and subscription services. Jonas was similarly effusive following the company’s investor day presentations last month, noting that if it were a startup, it would likely have a much higher valuation.
“Overall, we were left with a sense of great capability at the company but still many unanswered questions regarding execution,” Jonas wrote. “While so many company targets tend to be back-end loaded, we believe the next 12 months will prove critical for setting the strategic course for GM’s future.”
