Ford (F) reported first-quarter revenue and profit that beat Wall Street expectations Tuesday while also delivering results for its electric vehicle segment for the first time, totaling more than $700 million in losses in the first quarter.
Revenue came in at $41.5 billion for the quarter, up 20% from a year ago and beating expectations of $36.1 billion. Earnings per share came in at $0.63, more than the $0.41 that analysts had expected. Last year, Ford reported a net loss of $3.1 billion during the first quarter due to losses related to its investment in electric vehicle maker Rivian (RIVN).
In a separate release Tuesday, Ford announced that it will reopen orders for its all-electric Mustang Mach-E on Wednesday with a price cut of up to $4,000 for some models.
Ford stock is down about 1% in after-hours trading following the results.
Ford’s breakdown of its business segments continues to show heavy losses in its Model e EV business unit, though this is expected to improve through the end of the year.
Here are Ford’s results for the first quarter by business segment:
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Ford Blue: $25.1 billion in revenue, $2.623 billion in EBIT, 10.4% of EBIT
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Ford Model E: $700 million in revenue, ($722 million) in EBIT, -102% EBIT margin
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Ford Pro: $13.2 billion in revenue, $1.366 billion in EBIT, 10.3% of EBIT
“Quarterly shipments and returns from electric vehicles were limited by production outages of two very popular vehicles: the Mustang Mach ESUV, to make industry changes that would nearly double manufacturing capacity, and the F-150 Lightning pickup, to isolate and address a battery issue,” Ford said in a statement. before it becomes a problem for customers.
As for its outlook, Ford reaffirmed some key metrics it released in late March while teaching with investors and Wall Street analysts regarding the reporting structure of its three new business units.
EBIT is expected to be $9 billion to $11 billion with free cash flow adjustment of approximately $6 billion. Segment-wide EBIT projections for 2023 include a full-year loss of $3 billion for the Model e unit, $7 billion in EBIT for the Ford Blue, and $6 billion in EBIT for the Ford Pro.
Electric vehicle production run rates are 600,000 units by the end of 2023 and 2 million by the end of 2026.
The company also said in March that it expects its Model e unit to be close to break-even by the end of this year, and is targeting 8% EBIT by late 2026 for that segment; The company did not mention this forecast in its earnings statement on Tuesday. Investors will likely hear more about these metrics during Ford’s capital markets event May 21-22.
Ford announced last month that first-quarter deliveries rose 10.1% year-over-year in the US, helped by strong truck and SUV sales. Ford electric vehicle sales rose 41% year-over-year to 10,866 units, though hybrid sales fell 4% to 27,064 units. By comparison, Ford sold approximately 437,976 internal combustion vehicles in the first U.S. quarter.
To take advantage of first-quarter demand, Ford said it will boost production of the Ford Transit and E-Transit trucks, the Mustang Mach-E, the F-150 Lightning, the Bronco Sport, and the Maverick Pickup.
Ford’s first-quarter earnings followed General Motors’ stellar quarterly report last month that showed the automaker beat earnings and revenue expectations while raising its full-year adjusted earnings guidance to $11 billion-$13 billion.
Pras Subramanian is a correspondent at Yahoo Finance. You can follow it Twitter and on Instagram.
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