There’s been a little executive deck-shuffling at automaker Ford (NYSE:F), which, given the state of the car market right now, might not be such a bad idea. It’s upgraded its chief financial officer (CFO) position, and sent the current CFO to the vice chairman position. This didn’t help the stock much, though, as investors sold off and sent shares down modestly in Friday afternoon’s trading.
Ford bumped up its current CFO, John Lawler, to the vice chairman slot, but the change won’t be effective immediately. Lawler will remain CFO until early 2025 when his slot will be taken over by former Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID) executive Sherry House. House will start off as finance vice president early next month and then work to upgrade into the CFO slot. This is part of a larger turnaround plan at Ford, seeking to get the company back on an even keel after months of labor turmoil and some fundamentally altered issues in the larger market.
In Light of Current Events…
This news comes at an interesting time for the firm. We know that Ford already announced plans to hit the brakes on its aggressive EV push in Europe. Originally, the idea was to stop sales of gas cars after 2030, but now, the idea of at least plug-in hybrids carrying on is in play. With even Ford realizing that electric vehicle demand is not what it once was, it’s time to reconsider going all-in on a market that’s not as vibrant as it was. But bringing in a former electric vehicle company staffer might be Ford’s attempt at breaching that market and making more of it than they originally thought was there.
Is Ford a Good Stock to Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on Ford stock based on four Buys, five Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 7.73% rally in its share price over the past year, the average Ford price target of $14.58 per share implies 21.55% upside potential.
