Ford sales report a slight uptick in June

Ford Motor Company on Tuesday delivered a slight upturn in new vehicle sales for the fiscal second quarter. However, the report came in lower than the automotive analysts’ expectations.

Accordingly, the Q2 sales of the carmaker increased by 1.80% to 483,688 new vehicles compared with a year earlier. In addition, the results increased in June, edging up 31.50% for the month. However, market participants anticipated the Detroit automaker’s sales to jump between 3.30% and 5.10%.

The weaker-than-expected figure led to a decline of 1.06% or 0.12 points to $11.20 per share on Tuesday, hitting a 52-week low. Eventually, the stock price trailed the loss to a fall of 0.36% to $11.16 in the after-hours trading.

Nevertheless, Ford’s results were in stark contrast to an industry-wide slump in June. Analysts anticipated the overall sales to be down between 19.00% and 21.00% from the year-ago period.

The industry grappled with rebuilding dealer inventories due to the harsh production cuts. This is amid the global shortage of semiconductor chips and other key automotive components.

In the previous year, Ford also significantly struggled with the chip shortage, largely due to the impact of a fire at one of its suppliers in Japan. This conflict has forced the company to hamper output during the first half of 2021.

Ford reports strong F-150 demand

Despite the broad economic pressures, Ford forecasts the demand to remain resilient. The sales of F-Series pickups increased to 57,673 units in June, marking the highest monthly total of 2022. Subsequently, the report included the F-150, including an all-electric version and larger iterations of the pickup.

Specifically, sales of the company’s electric F-150 Lightning continue to ramp up. Ford stated that it sold 2,296 of the trucks since it went on sale in late May, including 1,837 in June.

Last month, the firm also cited that 50.00% of retail sales came from customer orders, higher than the previous 30.30% a year earlier. Automakers have engaged customers to order vehicles, which helps businesses better measure demand and plan.

Still, shares of Ford skidded 48.55% or 10.57 points year-to-date as recession fears dragged down the overall market.