Mitrade Insights is dedicated to providing investors with rich, timely and most valuable financial information to help investors grasp the market situation and find timely trading opportunities.

2021

Best News & Analysis Provider

FxDailyInfo

2022

Best Forex Educational Resources Global

International Business Magazine

Insights

News

A Little Good News for Ford Investors

Source The Motley Fool

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) investors have had plenty of negative news to digest recently. 2024 was a bumpy ride as Ford had to grapple with higher warranty costs, advanced electric vehicles taking over the market in China, and crosstown rival General Motors seemingly thriving and raising guidance at every opportunity.

But investors potentially have a good piece of news to chew on: Competition for Ford's F-150 Lightning seems to be hitting a speed bump.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. See the 10 stocks »

Harsh words

From the first glimpse of Tesla's F-150 competitor, the Cybertruck, critics and fans alike noted the unique design that was aimed at taking over sales of Ford's historic and dominating F-150 name plate. It was an intriguing scenario, as onlookers wondered if historic Detroit truck dominance would filter down to EV nameplates, or would traditional gasoline truck consumer loyalty fade when it came to EV trucks?

While that answer will take time to fully answer, there have been mixed results when it comes to the numbers, but when it comes to critics, there wasn't much left to be said.

"I think the Cybertruck can be officially considered a flop now," said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars, according to Automotive News. "Remember, this was going to be Tesla's F-150. The new benchmark, foundational vehicle for the Tesla brand to keep it super powerful, super profitable and high volume."

Some other analysts were even harsher, with Bernstein analysts calling the Cybertruck a "bust": "We highlight Cybertruck as a massive strategic miscalculation and opportunity cost for Tesla, given that it took 4 years to develop, and inevitably diverted attention away from a lower priced offering, which Tesla is now in desperate need of," lead auto analyst Toni Sacconaghi wrote, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Despite the harsh words and loud critics, the Cybertruck ended up as the fifth-most popular EV in the U.S. market last year with nearly 39,000 units sold. That was a good enough result to bump Ford's F-150 Lightning to sixth place with just over 33,500 units sold. And it was good enough to push Rivian's R1T outside of the top 10 with just under 11,100 units sold.

While the Cybertruck managed to edge out the F-150 Lightning in sales, there are subtle signs that demand for the unique Tesla offering is waning. According to CNBC, Tesla started offering discounts on new Cybertrucks, with discounts of $1,600 depending on trim level, and up to $2,600 for low-mileage demo versions.

There have been other signals that demand isn't as strong as investors would like. Tesla launched a leasing program for the Cybertruck, hoping to pass along some of the EV federal tax credit for leased vehicles, which don't have the same income and MSRP restrictions, for the full $7,500 tax credit.

Last October, according to Business Insider, factory workers had been sent home or given extra cleaning duties to fill scheduled work hours. Tesla was also said to have furloughed Cybertruck line workers in early December for a few days.

What it all means

For Ford and Rivian investors, these initial results, and early rumblings of waning demand, are a good sign for their respective products to remain competitive at the top of EV truck sales. Ford, especially, has less to fear of the Cybertruck's unique design than some had anticipated.

For Tesla investors, however, the doom and gloom is likely overblown to some degree. Even if the Cybertruck fails to live up to lofty expectations and early hype, Tesla itself is still dominating even if its global sales slightly pumped on the brakes in 2024. In fact, the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 alone generated 28.6% and 14.6%, respectively, of U.S. EV sales last year.

While the Cybertruck's demise is likely overblown, it's still a little good news for Ford and Rivian investors that it's clearly not going to take over anytime soon.

Should you invest $1,000 in Ford Motor Company right now?

Before you buy stock in Ford Motor Company, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Ford Motor Company wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $902,242!*

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

Learn more »

*Stock Advisor returns as of January 21, 2025

Daniel Miller has positions in Ford Motor Company and General Motors. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors and recommends the following options: long January 2025 $25 calls on General Motors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Recommended Articles

Dollar index tops 100 for the first time since July as the Fed's hawkish dot plot sinks in The U.S. dollar index broke back above 100 for the first time since 31 July after the Fed delivered its first rate hike since 2023, with the dot plot showing 16 of 18 officials expect at least one more increase this year. Here are the levels that matter for DXY, the currencies feeling it most, and what to watch next.

Author Irene Q.

Sep 17, Thu

The U.S. dollar index broke back above 100 for the first time since 31 July after the Fed delivered its first rate hike since 2023, with the dot plot showing 16 of 18 officials expect at least one more increase this year. Here are the levels that matter for DXY, the currencies feeling it most, and what to watch next.

Gold ends three-week slide at the $4,400 line — eight straight days of ETF inflows vs a 5% 10-year and a 100 dollar Spot gold closed Friday at $4,378.39, up 0.84% on the day and about 0.8% for the week — its first weekly gain in four weeks — with the intraday high of $4,399.67 leaving it 33 cents shy of the $4,400 line. Gold ETFs have now logged eight straight sessions of inflows, but with the 10-year back above 5% and the dollar index near 100, here is what decides whether this is a reversal or a bounce.

Author Suzie

Sep 20, Sun

Spot gold closed Friday at $4,378.39, up 0.84% on the day and about 0.8% for the week — its first weekly gain in four weeks — with the intraday high of $4,399.67 leaving it 33 cents shy of the $4,400 line. Gold ETFs have now logged eight straight sessions of inflows, but with the 10-year back above 5% and the dollar index near 100, here is what decides whether this is a reversal or a bounce.

Dollar holds above 100 near a 3-month high — three Fed speakers and a $69 billion auction land tonight The dollar index closed at 100.43 on Monday, its highest close since late July, after a weekly gain of about 1% — the best in more than three months — and is holding above the 100.00 handle in Asia. Three Fed officials speak tonight alongside a $69 billion two-year note auction, the first leg of $183 billion of Treasury supply this week.

Author Suzie

Yesterday 06: 34

The dollar index closed at 100.43 on Monday, its highest close since late July, after a weekly gain of about 1% — the best in more than three months — and is holding above the 100.00 handle in Asia. Three Fed officials speak tonight alongside a $69 billion two-year note auction, the first leg of $183 billion of Treasury supply this week.

October hike odds climb toward 60% as Goldman and BofA both flip — what Warsh's "dose of accommodation" really changed Rate futures now price roughly 55% to 62% for a 25bp hike at the October 27-28 FOMC, up from about 30% before Chair Warsh's post-meeting framing that the Fed is merely "removing some accommodation." Goldman Sachs has added an October hike to its forecast and Bank of America now sees moves in both October and December. Here is the repricing, the language behind it, and the two data points that decide it.

Author Irene Q.

7 hours ago

Rate futures now price roughly 55% to 62% for a 25bp hike at the October 27-28 FOMC, up from about 30% before Chair Warsh's post-meeting framing that the Fed is merely "removing some accommodation." Goldman Sachs has added an October hike to its forecast and Bank of America now sees moves in both October and December. Here is the repricing, the language behind it, and the two data points that decide it.

Memory chips surge, Nasdaq notches a second straight record close — why the Dow fell 185 points anyway Micron gained 5%, SanDisk 6.8%, Seagate 4% and Western Digital 3% as the memory complex led the Nasdaq Composite to a second consecutive record close of 27,244.28. But the Dow fell 185 points as JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Schwab slid more than 3% each — a split tape that says more about positioning than about the economy.

Author Irene Q.

6 hours ago

Micron gained 5%, SanDisk 6.8%, Seagate 4% and Western Digital 3% as the memory complex led the Nasdaq Composite to a second consecutive record close of 27,244.28. But the Dow fell 185 points as JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Schwab slid more than 3% each — a split tape that says more about positioning than about the economy.

Popular Symbols