A passing car carrier is reflected in the grille of a Ford Motor Co. F-150 pickup in 2017 on display at the Sutton Ford Lincoln car dealership in Matteson, Illinois.
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DETROIT – Ford Motor plans to invest $ 29 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles by 2025, the company announced Thursday when it reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue.
Here are the results.
- Custom VPA: 34 cents versus an expected loss of 7 cents
- Income: $ 33.2 billion versus $ 33.89 billion, expected
Ford chief financial officer John Lawler said the company predicts it will earn between $ 8 billion and $ 9 billion in adjusted profits before tax and generate between $ 20.5 and $ 4.5 billion in adjusted free cash flow in 2021. semiconductor chips that he says could cut Ford’s earnings by $ 1.0 billion to $ 2.5 billion this year.
‘The semiconductor situation is constantly changing, so it is premature to try to determine the magnitude
availability will mean for our performance throughout the year, “he said in a press release. At present, estimates from suppliers may indicate that we would lose 10% to 20% of our planned production in the first quarter. “
Lawler predicted in October that adjusted earnings before the fourth quarter from the carmaker would fall somewhere between a loss or break-even of $ 500 million. It would drop from a profit of $ 485 million during the fourth quarter of 2019.
Lawler said the decline would be primarily due to costs associated with new or redesigned vehicles the company introduced by the end of the year. These include the 2021 F-150 pickup, as well as the Bronco Sport SUV and Mustang Mach-E all-electric crossover.
Analysts and investors are expected to look beyond the loss and focus on Ford’s lead for 2021. Despite a faster-than-expected recovery from the pandemic last year, the industry now has a shortage of semiconductor chips that are causing carmakers to reduce car production.
Ford confirmed Thursday that it plans to cut shifts at plants in Michigan and Missouri that produce its lucrative F-150 pickups due to the shortage of chips.
Wall Street is also keeping an eye out for any additional business changes by CEO Jim Farley, who replaced Jim Hackett with effect from October 1, and any updates on the company’s electric vehicle plans.