Ford’s world headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. Photo credit: Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) is set to report first-quarter earnings before the bell on Wednesday. What should we expect?
If analysts’ estimates are on target, we should expect a record profit – at least in North America.
According to Bloomberg, leading Wall Street auto analysts are forecasting a $2.7 billion first-quarter profit for Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s North American division, driven by strong sales of pickups, the Focus compact, and the all-new Fusion.
But despite that success – which is tremendous — Ford’s net income may fall short of the $0.39 a share it reported in the first quarter of 2012.
Why? Because Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) is having a rough time overseas.
As I pointed out the other day, Ford has looked exceptionally strong in North America recently. Many of its factories are running two or even three shifts, a situation that suggests that profits will be very strong. The Wall Street crowd agrees, with analysts now saying that Ford’s North American margins may have topped 12% in the quarter – a very strong number for a mass-market automaker.
The product development approach that is part of CEO Alan Mulally’s “One Ford” plan continues to pay big benefits here in the U.S. Ford’s current vehicle lineup is probably its strongest and most competitive ever. Ford has been able to post steady sales gains and keep its factories humming while reducing its spending on “incentives”, or discounts. That’s why Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s profits here will likely look strong.
But the situation is different in Ford’s other regional divisions.
Challenges – and opportunities – in overseas divisions
In South America, the company has already said it expects to lose $300 million on inflation pressures and unfavorable exchange-rate swings – though it expects to break even for the full year.
In Europe, recessions have driven auto sales to lows not seen in two decades. That has hurt everybody, but it has hurt Ford more than some, because of the Blue Oval’s reluctance to offer deep discounts and make low-profit sales to rental-car fleets.
Europe is a mess, but as ace Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) auto analyst Adam Jonas told Bloomberg, it’s “a very controlled mess for Ford”. I agree with that take: Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) is likely to lose a lot of money in Europe this year, but it is doing all the right things to turn that around in a couple of years – even if auto sales in Europe continue to be lousy.
But this quarter will still be messy. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ford posted a loss in Europe of $500 million for the first quarter, or even more.
