What happened
Shares of Ford Motor Company (F 1.31%) were moving higher on Monday morning, after a Wall Street analyst upgraded the stock in a bullish note.
As of 10:15 a.m. EDT, Ford's shares were up about 7.2% from Friday's closing price.
So what
In a new note on Monday morning, Benchmark analyst Michael Ward raised his rating on Ford's stock to buy, from hold, with a $10 price target.
Ward thinks Ford's third-quarter earnings will come in better than investors expect. Ford's production in North America was higher than expected in the quarter, he said, with minimal COVID-19-related disruptions, and metrics in the auto credit markets are improving. Taken together, they could drive Ford's adjusted profit higher than the current $0.13-per-share Wall Street consensus estimate.
Benchmark's Michael Ward thinks Ford will move a lot of new F-150s as it works to replenish inventories. Image source: Ford Motor Company.
More broadly, Ward is bullish on Ford's new CEO, Jim Farley, and on the company's upcoming new-product blitz. Ford is in the midst of launching all-new versions of its F-150 pickup and Bronco SUV, both of which are expected to be high-margin products, with other new models due in the first half of 2021.
Ford earned $0.34 per share in the third quarter of 2019.
Now what
Auto investors won't have to wait too long to find out if Ward is right. Ford will report its third-quarter results after the market closes on Oct. 28.
