Ford (F) Stock Up on EcoBoost Vehicle Sales Estimates

Ford (F) stock is increasing after the company said it expects to sell more than 1 million vehicles with EcoBoost technology this year.
By Amanda Gomez ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Ford Motor Co. (F) - Get Report stock is rising 0.14% to $14.30 in afternoon trading on Wednesday after the company said it expects U.S. sales of EcoBoost-equipped vehicles to surpass 1 million this this year.

EcoBoost is the combination of smaller engines with turbocharging, direct injection, variable valve timing, and engine management software that allows vehicles to be fuel efficient and still perform well.

"Ford EcoBoost delivers great performance along with the capability of impressive fuel efficiency," Ford sales analyst Erich Merkle said in a statement. "Ford leadership in clean gasoline turbocharged engine technology is paying dividends as evidenced by EcoBoost sales growth."

Sales of vehicles with EcoBoost were up 46% year-over-year for the first 10 months of this year, while total Ford vehicle sales were up 5.4% to 2.1 million vehicles.

Ford sold 210,239 F-150 trucks, 203,855 Escape SUVs and 105,999 Fusion sedans with EcoBoost during the that period.

EcoBoost-powered vehicles accounted for 78% of total Escape sales, 64% of F-150 sales and 43% of Fusion sales.

Ford recently invested almost $200 million at an engine plant in Cleveland to meet demand for the 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine for the Ford Edge.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates FORD MOTOR CO as a Buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

We rate FORD MOTOR CO (F) a BUY. This is driven by some important positives, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, increase in net income, good cash flow from operations, solid stock price performance and growth in earnings per share. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated.

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

  • The revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 6.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 9.2%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
  • The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Automobiles industry. The net income increased by 128.6% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $835.00 million to $1,909.00 million.
  • Net operating cash flow has increased to $6,455.00 million or 20.22% when compared to the same quarter last year. The firm also exceeded the industry average cash flow growth rate of 10.18%.
  • After a year of stock price fluctuations, the net result is that F's price has not changed very much. Although its weak earnings growth may have played a role in this flat result, don't lose sight of the fact that the performance of the overall market, as measured by the S&P 500 Index, was essentially similar. Turning our attention to the future direction of the stock, it goes without saying that even the best stocks can fall in an overall down market. However, in any other environment, this stock still has good upside potential despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year.
  • FORD MOTOR CO reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, FORD MOTOR CO reported lower earnings of $0.78 versus $1.75 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.63 versus $0.78).
  • You can view the full analysis from the report here: F

Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.

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