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Ford (F) Q1 2023 earnings results: Electric vehicles take center stage

Ford Motor (F) released its Q1 2023 earnings results after market close on Tuesday, May 2, as the automaker gives us our closest look at its Model e electric car division yet.

Ford Q1 2023 earnings preview

Earlier today, we posted a preview of what you can expect from Ford’s first-quarter earnings results.

Ford’s electric car sales lost momentum in the first three months of 2023. Despite overall EV sales growing 41% YOY, Mustang Mach-E sales slipped nearly 20% to just over 5,400 units as the automaker retooled its factory in Mexico (Ford also just reopened Mustang Mach-E orders) in order to boost production in the second half of the year.

This is the first earnings report in which Ford breaks down financial results by business unit, giving us a closer look at the automakers Model e electric vehicle segment.

Although Ford has said it expects to lose $3 billion on EVs this year as it works to double Mach-E and triple F-150 Lightning production, it has not indicated how much it anticipates to lose per quarter.

The expected lose comes after Ford already revealed it had lost $2.1 billion making EVs last year for a total loss of $6 billion since 2021.

That said, Ford does expect its first-gen EVs to approach the breakeven point later this year as it works toward hitting its 8% EBIT margin target by the end of 2026.

Wall St analysts are expecting Ford’s total revenue to rise to around $39.2 billion with EPS up slightly YOY to 0.42.

Ford’s first quarter earnings results

In the first quarter of 2023, Ford’s Model e EV segment generated $700 million in revenue, a decrease of 27% from last year.

Ford’s Model e operating losses swelled to $722 million, more than doubling YOY compared to $342 million in Q1 2022. The business unit’s operating margin also fell to (102.1)%, a drop of 63 percentage points compared to last year.

Ford-Q1-2023-earnings
Ford Q1 2023 Model e EV earnings results (Source: Ford)

The EV segment was the only unprofitable business unit, with revenue reaching $41.5 billion overall, up 20% from a year ago and beating expectations.

Ford Pro, the company’s commercial and software business unit saw operating income nearly triple to $1.4 billion.

Ford posted overall net income of $1.8 billion compared to a net loss of $3.4 billion in 2022 that was primarily associated with a loss in value on its Rivian’s investment.

Cash flow from operations was $2.8 billion with $692 million in adjusted free cash flow. Ford ended the quarter with nearly $29 billion in cash and over $46 billion in liquidity.

Rival Amercial automaker General Motors also posted strong overall Q1 earnings results with revenue rising to $40 billion as it prepares for a breakout year with its EVs.

However, unlike GM, Ford is reaffirming guidance of $9 billlion to $11 billion adjusted EBIT rather than raising it. As for Model e, Ford is sticking with guidance for a full year loss of around $3 billion.

Ford’s stock is down around 9% over the past year and is nearly flat (-1%) in afterhours trading on the news.

Check back for updates from Ford’s Q1 2023 earnings call. You can refresh the page to find the latest highlights.

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Avatar for Peter Johnson Peter Johnson

Peter Johnson is covering the auto industry’s step-by-step transformation to electric vehicles. He is an experienced investor, financial writer, and EV enthusiast. His enthusiasm for electric vehicles, primarily Tesla, is a significant reason he pursued a career in investments. If he isn’t telling you about his latest 10K findings, you can find him enjoying the outdoors or exercising

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