We have heard, before, of very small recalls hitting legacy automaker Ford (F). One more of these very small recalls hit just recently, in fact. And this particular recall extended to just three vehicles. Not three models, but three entire cars. Despite this, Ford shares were still up, with shares gaining over 1.5% in Friday afternoon’s trading.
Confident Investing Starts Here:
- Quickly and easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions
- Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks straight to you inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter
Though the recall does not affect a large number of Ford models, the issue itself is surprisingly severe. Ford, when filing the recall, noted that the vehicles in question “…may have one or more missing or loose retention nuts on the high voltage battery junction box bus bars in the high voltage battery pack.” If the exact impact of such a condition is not clear to you, then I can rephrase it: in such a condition, energy could literally arc inside the vehicle, and ultimately, start a fire.
The three vehicles impacted, reports note, are all F-150 Lightning electric pickups, and all made in model year 2023. If an arc actually does happen, drivers might hear an unexpected loud noise, and get a message requesting that they “stop safely now” on their driver screen. The truck will lose power, but steering and braking functions will still operate and allow the truck to “…safely coast to a stop,” reports note. Dealers will, at no charge, check for loose or missing nuts, and potentially offer a rental car to those impacted while awaiting “final repair instructions.”
Then There Was the Stolen Parts Ring
As if that were not bad enough, reports have also emerged suggesting that Ford was victim of what amounts to a stolen parts ring. For the last two years, one Ford employee, along with three other people, had been allegedly stealing parts from Ford. In many cases, the parts in question were taken right off the assembly line, reports note. The stolen parts were then resold, either online or through “third-party auto shops.”
Ford’s Global Security team reportedly assisted police in the investigation, and that led to the discovery that, at one of these third-party shops, stolen Ford parts were found stacked “…from the floor to the ceiling.” The total value of the parts in question is suggested to be in the millions of dollars.
Is Ford Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on F stock based on two Buys, 11 Holds and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 7.49% loss in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $9.82 per share implies 5.8% downside risk.
