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Ford (F) to Resume Production of F-150 Lightning on Mar 13
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Ford Motor (F - Free Report) prepares to restart the production of the F-150 Lightning on Mar 13, 2023, after suspending its production in early February due to a potential battery-related issue. Ford’s battery supplier, SK On, has started the production of battery cells again in its Georgia plant. The production timeline will allow SK to build up production of battery packs and deliver them to Ford’s Michigan-based truck production plant.
Ford, in a statement to CNBC, said, “In the weeks ahead, we will continue to apply our learnings and work with SK On’s team to ensure we continue delivering high-quality battery packs — down to the battery cells. As REVC ramps up production, we will continue holding already-produced vehicles while we work through engineering and parts updates.”
Last week, Ford announced that it would extend its downtime through at least this week at Rouge EV Centre, the production center for the F-150 Lightning truck.
On Feb 4, during a pre-delivery quality check, Ford’s holding lot caught fire while a vehicle was charging. The legacy automaker immediately issued the stop-shipment and pause in production orders. However, there was no stop-sale order on vehicles that had already reached the dealers. Ford declined to disclose any details regarding the incident. The company later announced that the engineers did not find any evidence of a charging-related issue.
Investors have been closely following the progress on the F-150 Lightning since it is Ford’s first mainstream electric pickup truck and a major element in deciding the trajectory of the business going forward. The news added to the woes of ongoing “execution issues” put forward by CEO Jim Farley during the latest earnings call. For FY2022, Ford fell short of its own full-year guidance due to “execution issues” that plagued its operation. Ford is struggling to become more profitable than its old competitors because of a cost disadvantage of $7 billion to $8 billion.
Ford unleashed the F-150 Lightning in May 2021 and opened customer reservations soon after that. The automaker received more than 200,000 reservations before temporarily closing the process to balance production with the expected demand.
This Thursday, Ford revealed that it has sold fewer than 20,000 electric trucks since they were put up for sale last year and many reservation owners are yet to receive the delivery of their vehicle.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
F currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
A few top-ranked players in the auto space include Wabash National (WNC - Free Report) and Modine Manufacturing (MOD - Free Report) , both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Wabash is one of the leading manufacturers of semi-trailers in North America. The Zacks Consensus Estimates for WNC’s 2023 sales and earnings imply year-over-year growth of 13.06% and 24%, respectively.
Modine operates primarily in a single industry consisting of the manufacture and sale of heat transfer equipment. The Zacks Consensus Estimates for MOD’s 2023 sales and earnings imply year-over-year growth of 11.43% and 43.09%, respectively.
Image: Bigstock
Ford (F) to Resume Production of F-150 Lightning on Mar 13
Ford Motor (F - Free Report) prepares to restart the production of the F-150 Lightning on Mar 13, 2023, after suspending its production in early February due to a potential battery-related issue. Ford’s battery supplier, SK On, has started the production of battery cells again in its Georgia plant. The production timeline will allow SK to build up production of battery packs and deliver them to Ford’s Michigan-based truck production plant.
Ford, in a statement to CNBC, said, “In the weeks ahead, we will continue to apply our learnings and work with SK On’s team to ensure we continue delivering high-quality battery packs — down to the battery cells. As REVC ramps up production, we will continue holding already-produced vehicles while we work through engineering and parts updates.”
Last week, Ford announced that it would extend its downtime through at least this week at Rouge EV Centre, the production center for the F-150 Lightning truck.
On Feb 4, during a pre-delivery quality check, Ford’s holding lot caught fire while a vehicle was charging. The legacy automaker immediately issued the stop-shipment and pause in production orders. However, there was no stop-sale order on vehicles that had already reached the dealers. Ford declined to disclose any details regarding the incident. The company later announced that the engineers did not find any evidence of a charging-related issue.
Investors have been closely following the progress on the F-150 Lightning since it is Ford’s first mainstream electric pickup truck and a major element in deciding the trajectory of the business going forward. The news added to the woes of ongoing “execution issues” put forward by CEO Jim Farley during the latest earnings call. For FY2022, Ford fell short of its own full-year guidance due to “execution issues” that plagued its operation. Ford is struggling to become more profitable than its old competitors because of a cost disadvantage of $7 billion to $8 billion.
Ford unleashed the F-150 Lightning in May 2021 and opened customer reservations soon after that. The automaker received more than 200,000 reservations before temporarily closing the process to balance production with the expected demand.
This Thursday, Ford revealed that it has sold fewer than 20,000 electric trucks since they were put up for sale last year and many reservation owners are yet to receive the delivery of their vehicle.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
F currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
A few top-ranked players in the auto space include Wabash National (WNC - Free Report) and Modine Manufacturing (MOD - Free Report) , both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Wabash is one of the leading manufacturers of semi-trailers in North America. The Zacks Consensus Estimates for WNC’s 2023 sales and earnings imply year-over-year growth of 13.06% and 24%, respectively.
Modine operates primarily in a single industry consisting of the manufacture and sale of heat transfer equipment. The Zacks Consensus Estimates for MOD’s 2023 sales and earnings imply year-over-year growth of 11.43% and 43.09%, respectively.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.