Ford outperformed analyst expectations for the second quarter, posting higher year-over-year revenue and increasing its earnings forecast for 2023.
Ford reported an automotive revenue of $42.43 billion, beating Wall Street’s expectations by over $2 billion. The automaker’s net income for the period totaled $1.9 billion, an increase of roughly 288% from the prior year’s $667 million and 5% from the first quarter’s $1.8 billion. High prices and pent-up demand contributed to the company’s success over the period; CFO Joun Lawler noted that both metrics were “holding up” better than anticipated. In July, the car manufacturer revealed its sales volume had grown 11.2% in Q2.
Earlier this year, the automaker reorganized its financial reports by segment rather than market, creating the Ford Blue (gas and hybrid operations), Ford Model e (electric vehicle operations) and Ford Pro (commercial and fleet operations) divisions. Revenue for all three branches jumped in the second quarter. However, the company’s EV unit continued to struggle with profitability, posting a $1.08 billion loss for the period. Ford now expects to lose $4.5 billion on the segment in 2023 and has extended the timeframe for producing 600,000 EVs annually by another year.
Overall, the company continued to see better performance than in 2022, thanks to a recovering economy, high demand and advantageous pricing. Based on the market’s improving conditions, Ford replaced its original full-year earnings forecast of $9 billion and $11 billion with a new estimate of $11 billion and $12 billion. The decision comes just days after rival automaker General Motors also increased its 2023 guidance for identical reasons.
