For legacy automaker Ford (F), its efforts to move into electric vehicles have proven full of false starts and pitfalls. The latest news did it only mixed favors, as investors sent shares down fractionally in the closing minutes of Monday’s trading.
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First came good news. Ford got together with a coterie of other firms to fire up the ChargeScape vehicle-to-grid charging platform. ChargeScape has been working on home-based electric vehicle charging solutions, and while this may not fix the entire issue of electric vehicle charging, it will certainly take some of the uncertainty out.
That brings us to the bad news. In a blow to Ford’s green ambitions, the electric Ford Bronco driven by actor Ben Affleck—whose son Samuel was also in the car—broke down on the freeway while driving. The truck was ultimately loaded onto a flatbed truck and hauled away, whilst Ben and Sam hit a gas station and had their phones out.
Hurricane Response
Ford was also seen lending a hand with victims of Hurricane Helene, of which there have been quite a few of late. This is particularly true in North Carolina, where some reports refer to the area as looking like a “war zone.”
But Ford is working to help out, teaming up with Team Rubicon, a veteran’s humanitarian group, to head into those disaster areas and assist with cleanup. Ford is sending both cash and volunteers to help the people of North Carolina dig out from the disaster. Ford’s own dealerships were significantly impacted, and it is a safe bet that few if any will be buying a new car in that area any time soon.
Is Ford Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on F stock based on five Buys, nine Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 7.1% loss in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $12.82 per share implies 22.27% upside potential.
