Ford Raised Full-Year Guidance but Its Stock Still Lags EV Rivals and GM

Ford Motor raised its full-year 2026 adjusted EBIT guidance to $8.5 billion to $10.5 billion, up from an earlier range of $8.0 billion to $10.0 billion, and set adjusted free cash flow guidance of $5.0 billion to $6.0 billion. Capital expenditures are expected at $9.5 billion to $10.5 billion, including $1.5 billion earmarked for Ford Energy. Despite the guidance lift, Ford shares underperformed competitors on Wednesday, August 19, even as the stock posted a modest daily gain.

Tesla climbed roughly 3% and Rivian jumped about 4% on the same session, with pure-play EV names drawing stronger investor interest. General Motors, which also raised full-year guidance this summer and executed a $6 billion buyback, has outpaced Ford in share-price appreciation, a gap analysts note persists even as both companies show improving fundamentals. A longer-term question hovering over Ford is whether the stock can reach $30 by 2030, a target that would require sustained execution on its Universal EV platform and Ford Pro commercial business.

Ford Pro remains the company's most profitable segment, with a full-year EBIT outlook anchored near $6 billion. The company expects to deliver roughly $1 billion in material and warranty cost savings, offset by approximately $1 billion of investment in Universal EV and Ford Energy. An unrelated operational disruption also emerged: Ford idled its Romanian factory temporarily to free electricity for the broader grid after drought forced a controlled shutdown of the Cernavoda nuclear plant, which supplies about a fifth of Romania's power.