When you want to clearly draw a line in United States history, there are some phrases that really do the job. “Pre-9/11” is one big one. And now, “since 2019”, the year before the pandemic hit, is another. For legacy automaker Ford (F), that phrase comes in especially handy as it posted the best sales it has seen since the year before the world was, if only temporarily, locked down. Ford’s performance proved good enough for investors, who sent shares up nearly 3% in Friday afternoon’s trading.
Don't Miss Our New Year's Offers:
- Discover the latest stocks recommended by top Wall Street analysts, all in one place with Analyst Top Stocks
- Make smarter investments with weekly expert stock picks from the Smart Investor Newsletter
Ford reported that it sold 2.08 million vehicles, which was good enough for it to land third place behind General Motors (GM) and Toyota (TM). But, while it was only good enough for third, it was also the best figure that Ford had seen since 2019, noted a CNBC report. That year, Ford sold off 2.42 million vehicles.
Internal combustion engine sales remained strong, gaining just 0.2%, but electric vehicle sales surged, gaining 38.3% against 2023’s figures. In fact, electric vehicles—both pure and hybrid models—represented 13.7% of total sales at Ford, the report noted. And, just to top it off, Ford managed to beat analyst estimates on at least two fronts, reports noted. Analysts were looking for Ford to sell 519,808 vehicles in the fourth quarter—it sold 530,660 in that time frame—and sell 2.06 million for 2024 total.
Not That Bad on Recalls
And there was some more good news for Ford. Despite the sheer avalanche of product recalls we have seen on Ford over the last few days, a report from The Street revealed that Ford is not the leader in product recalls this year. No, that honor—if you can call it that—goes to Stellantis (STLA).
Ford sent out 67 recalls throughout 2024, noted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That covered somewhere around 4,777,161 vehicles total. However, Stellantis issued 72 recalls total, and covered 4,804,285 vehicles total. This truly was a come from behind win as well; in 2023, Stellantis had roughly half that number of recalls on the table.
Is Ford Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on F stock based on three Buys, seven Holds and three Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 9.07% loss in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $10.42 per share implies 4.93% upside potential.
