=Ford Motor (F) reported earnings on Wed 23 Jan 2019 (a/h)

Ford Motor (F) reports EPS in-line, beats on revs

• Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.30 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.30; revenues rose 0.5% year/year to $38.7 bln vs the $36.83 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
  • As covered earlier this month, Ford provided preliminary EPS figures for Q4 that fell short of analyst estimates.
• While auto operations reported a lower EBIT than a year ago, driven by China and Europe, all regions continued to focus on improving operational fitness while building on core company strengths. In Europe, Ford posted record SUV sales, while Ranger was the region's best-selling pick up, and Ford once again was the best-selling commercial vehicle brand. In the Asia Pacific region, India and Thailand achieved record full-year sales, and Lincoln set a new annual sales record for the fourth consecutive year in China.
• Bob Shanks, Ford CFO, said Ford expects to be able to fully fund its business needs and capital plans in 2019, while maintaining cash and liquidity levels at or above its target levels. He added Ford sees the potential for year-over-year improvement in the company's key financial metrics as it works to close the gaps versus targets.
• Q4 Slide Deck
• For 2019 outlook, co calls for potential improvement from 2018

Ford Motor Q4 Earnings Preview

Automaker Ford will report its Q4 results today at 16:15 ET, followed by a conference call at 17:30 ET.

• The current Capital IQ consensus calls for Q4 earnings of $0.30 per share (vs $0.39 one year ago) on a 4.9% year-over-year decline in revenue to $36.62 billion.
• Last week, Ford issued preliminary results for fiscal 2018, which implied Q4 earnings of $0.31 per share.
• Ford commented on its turnaround plan in last week's release, but the market has been disappointed with the lack of specifics. CEO Jim Hackett noted that turnaround efforts have already been underway for 19 months.
  • Ford's North American unit is shifting its focus away from sedans and toward SUVs and trucks-two markets that have shown relative strength.
  • In Europe, Ford hopes to capitalize on its standing as the leading seller of commercial vehicles.
  • The company expects to introduce more than ten new Ford and Lincoln models in China in 2019.
• In last week's release, the company said it sees a potential for revenue, EBIT, and adjusted operating cash flow growth during fiscal 2019. This outlook implies flat industry sales in 2019 compared to 2018.
• Shares of Ford rebounded alongside the broader market from their late-December swoon, but the January rebound ran into resistance near the 50-day moving average (8.71). The stock remains up 8.5% for the year, but is down 6.1% since the company issued its preliminary results on January 16.