Another Ford Flub: Fool by Numbers

On Oct. 20, Ford (NYSE: F) released earnings for its 2005 third quarter, which ended Sept. 30.

• Net loss per share excluding special items was $0.10, or one penny worse than the Street consensus. Makes you wonder what executives are so optimistic about, eh?
  
  
• This is Ford's first quarterly net loss in more than two years. The biggest contributor was Ford's ailing auto business, which posted a $1.3 billion pre-tax loss, more than double the $609 million loss posted in last year's Q3.
  
  
• The finance team couldn't cover this time, either, as operating margins were nearly cut in half. Ouch.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights (What's this?)

	Avg. Est.	Q3 2005	Q3 2004	% Change
Sales	$32,040	$40,856	$39,121	+4.4%
Net Profit	--	$(284)	$266	NA
EPS	$(0.09)	$(0.15)	$0.15	NA

Margin Checkup (What's this?)

	Q3 2005	Q3 2004	Change
Gross Margin	17.93%	20.87%	-2.94%
Op. Margin	-3.28%	6.32%	-3.03%
Net Margin	-0.70%	0.68%	-1.38%

Balance Sheet Highlights (What's this?)

Assets	Q3 2005	Q3 2004	% Change
Cash+ ST Invest.	$36,814	$28,998	+27%
Inventory	$11,687	$10,981	+6.4%
Accounts Rec.	$97,042	$115,351	-15.9%

Liabilities
Long-Term Debt	$141,738	$164,707	-13.9%
Accounts Pay.	$22,991	$22,399	+2.6%

Cash Flow Highlights (What's this?)

	Q3 2005	Q3 2004	% Change
Cash From Ops	$20,103	$19,887	+1.1%
Capital Expend.	$5,462	$4,896	+11.6%
Free Cash Flow	$14,641	$14,991	-2.3%

Related Companies:

• BMW (OTC BB: BAMXF.PK)
• DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX)
• General Motors (NYSE: GM)
• Honda (NYSE: HMC)
• Nissan (Nasdaq: NSANY)
• Toyota (NYSE: TM)

Related Foolishness:

• Oh, I see, it's all Japan's fault.
• It was, after all, too late to the comeback party.
• The little things are what really matter for Ford. Boeing (NYSE: BA), too.

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.

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Fool contributor Tim Beyers didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story at the time of publication. You can find out what is in his portfolio by checking Tim's Fool profile . BMW is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation. The Motley Fool has an ironclad disclosure policy .