Ford Motor Company (F)

[pack10]

Here ya go

By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch

Ford Motor Co. is expected to report third-quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday.

Ford (F) will report on the heels of a surprise earnings and revenue beat for rival General Motors Co (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gm-earnings-more-than-double-on-strong-truck-sales-2016-10-25-94854413).(GM), which on Tuesday reported record third-quarter sales thanks to strong truck sales in the U.S.

And Ford knows trucks: Its iconic (and newly redesigned) F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for decades. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-number-one-auto-in-america-for-decades-2016-02-05)

Read more:Ford's lower profit outlook, higher spending have Wall Street grumbling (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fords-lower-profits-more-spending-have-wall-street-grumbling-2016-09-14)

Ford and other auto makers, however, are fighting off concerns that domestic auto sales have reached a plateau after years of rising demand, and that Europe sales are under the "Brexit" cloud.

Analyst David Whiston with Morningstar said he sees an overall "unimpressive quarter" for Ford, which has been less optimistic on the U.S. auto market than GM.

Here's what to expect:

Earnings: Analysts polled by FactSet expect Ford to report adjusted earnings of 20 cents a share in the third quarter, which would be down from 45 cents a share in the year-ago period.

Estimize, which crowdsources estimates from analysts, fund managers, and academics, expects Ford to report earnings of 26 cents a share, using 109 estimates.

(https://sw.graphiq.com/w/8e03Wk6dKNn)

Revenue: The FactSet analysts forecast Ford to earn $33.8 billion in the quarter, which would compare with $35.8 billion in the year-ago period.

The Estimize analysts expect Ford to hit sales of $32.8 billion in the quarter.

Share price: Shares of Ford have lagged behind the main benchmark. So far this year, the stock has fallen more than 16%, contrasting with gains around 5% for the S&P 500 index. The underperformance grows more stark on a 12-month basis: Ford shares have fallen more than 24%, compared with losses of more than 3% for the S&P.

(https://sw.graphiq.com/w/7xpRLvGQbn7)

Other issues: Ford last month forecast lower profits for next year as it would ramp up spending to continue to invest in "emerging opportunities": electric cars, driverless vehicles and shared mobility.

The company said then its 2016 pretax profit would be around $10.2 billion, but decline in 2017 before getting better in 2018. It also forecast fewer vehicle sales for next year and 2018.

Earlier this year, the company announced an ambitious plan to sell driverless cars to be used in ride-sharing within the next five years (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ford-believes-it-can-sell-a-driverless-car-in-five-years-2016-08-16), unveiling partnerships and investments in San Francisco Bay Area startups. Ford bought San Francisco-based shuttle startup Chariot in September, and it has beefed up its presence in Silicon Valley.

Related: Ford keeps disrupting its own business (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ford-takes-another-step-in-disrupting-itself-2016-09-09)

The good news for Ford and other auto makers is that "gas is still cheap and Americans still want pickups and SUVs," Morningstar's Whiston said.

See also:Ford's F-150 bet pays off -- again (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fords-f-150-bet-pays-off-again-2016-04-28)

He expects analysts to zero in on Ford management's expectations for U.S. car sales going forward, and add some color about any implications for the company about a "Brexit" fallout. Ford derives about a fifth of its revenue from sales in Europe.

GM posted an operating loss of $142 million in Europe in the third quarter, three months after posting its first profit in the region in five years, blaming most of the weakness on currency declines and industry weakness tied to the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union.