Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) released the results from its second quarter this morning, posting earnings after tax but excluding items of 40 cents per share on $37.4 billion in revenue. Analysts had been expecting to see earnings per share of 36 cents on $38.13 billion in revenue. In the same quarter a year ago, Ford reported earnings of 45 cents per share on $37.9 billion in revenue.
Net earnings were 32 cents per share and include $481 million in pretax special items.
Breaking down Ford’s results
Ford reported a 1% year over year decline in total Automotive second quarter wholesale volume and a 2% decline in Automotive revenue*. It did see its market share move higher in the Asia Pacific region as its share hit a new record in China. All of Ford’s Automotive business divisions were profitable and posted better results year over year except for South America. In North America, Ford saw record quarterly profit, while in the Asia Pacific region, the automaker saw record second quarter profit. The quarter was also the first in which Ford earned a quarterly profit in Europe in the last three years.
The main driver of Ford’s profits in North America was industry sales. A strong vehicle lineup and also better discipline in matching production with demand also contributed. In wholesale volume and revenue, the automaker said lower market share and unfavorable changes in dealer stocks weighed on its results. Higher industry sales partially offset those negative impacts.
Ford’s U.S. market share was 15.3%, a 1.2 percentage point decline year over year due mostly to planned reductions in rental sales, a decline in F-Series share, and lower share of its Edge and Focus cars.
Ford reaffirms guidance
Ford also reaffirmed its previous guidance for pretax profits of between $7 billion and $8 billion for the full year. The automaker said it is continuing its plans for “an unprecedented number” of new product launches around the globe. The company said it expects this year’s investments to result in a strong vehicle lineup that will result in higher volumes, margins and revenues next year and beyond.
For the full year, the automaker said it expects pretax profits in North America to be lower than last year and operating margins in the 8% to 9% range. Ford included 13 weeks of production downtime for the F-150 launch.
“Our One Ford plan continues to deliver, enabling us to reach our 20th consecutive quarter of profitability,” Ford President and CEO Mark Fields said in a statement. “Moving forward, our commitment is to build on this success by accelerating our pace of progress, while delivering product excellence and driving innovation in all areas of our business.”
*Article previously stated that Ford reported a 5% year over year decline in wholesale volume and a 3% decline in revenue. These numbers were actually for the automaker’s North America business unit. The total Automotive numbers have been corrected above.
