The Ford display at the New York International Auto Show on March 28, 2024.
Danielle DeVries | CNBC
DETROIT — Sales of Ford Motor‘s trucks and other commercial vehicles led the automaker to beat Wall Street’s earnings estimates during the first quarter, offsetting losses of its electric vehicles.
The company maintained its 2024 earnings guidance of adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, of between $10 billion and $12 billion. It slightly lowered capital expenditure expectations and raised its adjusted free cash flow outlook for the year.
The company now expects to generate adjusted free cash flow of $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion – up from the initial outlook of $6 billion to $7 billion provided earlier this year. Its outlook for capital expenditures is now expected between $8 billion and $9 billion – narrower than the $8 billion to $9.5 billion originally estimated.
While the automaker beat earnings estimates, it slightly missed on automotive revenue.
Here are the results.
- Earnings per share: 49 cents adjusted vs. 42 cents adjusted expected by LSEG
- Automotive revenue: $39.89 billion vs. $40.10 billion expected by LSEG
Adjusted earnings of Ford’s traditional business, known as Ford Blue, were down 66% compared to a year earlier to $905 million during the first quarter. Its Ford Pro commercial business earned $3.01 billion, up 120% from a year earlier. Ford’s Model e electric vehicle unit posted a $1.32 billion loss from January through March.
The notable decline in Ford Blue was related to the launch of the company’s refreshed F-150 pickup, which it held shipments of during most of the quarter to address quality issues.
As part of its 2024 guidance from February, Ford said it expected its EV business lose between $5 billion to $5.5 billion during this year. Ford Blue earnings are expected to be roughly flat at $7 billion to $7.5 billon, while Ford Pro is expected to come in around $8 billion to $9 billion.
— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
