Ford shares soared 12% Friday after the automaker reported strong earnings – with President Trump quick to boast that his latest tariff tweaks boosted the results.
After selling more pickups and SUVs than expected in the third quarter, Ford’s automotive revenue hit $47.19 billion, beating estimates of $43.08 billion.
Trump took to social media to act as cheerleader-in-chief for Ford and General Motors — whose stock spiked more than 15% earlier this week — and to take a victory lap.
“Ford and General Motors UP BIG on Tariffs placed on Big and Midsized Trucks coming from other countries. Thank you President Trump!” he wrote in a Friday morning post on Truth Social.
Trump recently extended exemptions for US firms using imported auto parts and announced plans to slap fresh tariffs on foreign heavy-duty trucks to make American alternatives more competitive.
Top brass at Ford and GM lavished praise on the president this week as they slashed anticipated tariff costs.
“I’d like to thank President Trump and his team,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said during a call with analysts.
His company slashed its expected tariff costs by $1 billion, down to about $2 billion.
Mary Barra, chief executive of GM, also thanked Trump earlier this week for “the important tariff updates.”
General Motors cut its projection for the levies’ impact by half a billion, to between $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion.
Ford on Thursday reported adjusted earnings per share of 45 cents, above expectations of 36 cents.
“Our performance in the quarter shows that the Ford+ plan is delivering consistent improvement,” said Sherry House, Ford’s chief financial officer, referring to the company’s turnaround program.
“Our underlying business becomes stronger, more efficient, more agile and increasingly durable.”
However, the company was forced to cut its annual forecasts for this year due to a devastating fire at a New York plant, which will slow its production of heavy trucks and large SUVs – some of its top-selling and most profitable vehicles.
The fire at Novelis – an aluminum plant that is a major supplier for several US automakers – is expected to cost Ford between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, though it hopes to mitigate the damage by ramping up manufacturing of the impacted vehicles once supplies become available.
Part of this effort will include adding 1,000 workers next year to its facilities in Michigan and Kentucky.
Ford’s new 2025 forecast includes adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of $6 billion to $6.5 billion, down from $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion.
If the fire had not occurred, Ford was planning to hike its annual forecast to more than $8 billion in adjusted EBIT, House said.
General Motors’ Tuesday stock surge marked the automaker’s best day since 2020 – and its second-best day since it emerged from bankruptcy in 2009.
It reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.80, above expectations of $2.31. Revenue reached $48.59 billion, beating estimates of $45.27.
“Thanks to the collective efforts of our team, and our compelling vehicle portfolio, GM delivered another very good quarter of earnings and free cash flow,” Barra said in a Tuesday letter to shareholders.
“Based on our performance, we are raising our full-year guidance, underscoring our confidence in the company’s trajectory.”
GM now expects adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of $12 billion to $13 billion, up from $10 billion to $12.5 billion.
Still, the company laid off more than 200 salaried employees on Friday. GM said most of the layoffs hit Computer-Aided Design, or CAD, engineers who worked at the automaker’s tech campus in Detroit.
Also, the company’s adjusted results do not include $1.6 billion in losses related to planned changes in its electric vehicle rollout following the end of a federal tax credit and a slump in demand.
GM’s net income attributable to stockholders was $1.3 billion in the third quarter – down 57% from about $3.1 billion a year earlier. Its net income margin dropped to 2.7%, down from 6.3% the same time last year.
Its North American business – which typically delivers the firm’s most substantial profits – showed signs it was struggling.
It earned more than $2.5 billion in the third quarter. But its adjusted profit margin plunged 9.7% from a year earlier to 6.2%.
GM’s China operations helped offset the lower North American earnings.
Barra said the automaker’s “top priority” is returning to 8% to 10% adjusted profit margins in the North American market.
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