RBC Capital Downgrades Ford on its North American Margin Risk

Despite its earnings beat on Wednesday, RBC Capital analyst Joseph Spak downgraded Ford

from an Outperform rating to a Market perform, while dropping his price target on the company from $19 to $18. The downgrade was primarily predicated on a projected 50bps contraction of margins for North America in 2014, coming primarily from higher costs on the F-150. Later in the report, Spak stated that while the company saw encouraging results in Asia and the Pacific, Europe remains a risk, and that 2014 may see a lull. Despite this, he noted that Ford is set up for long-term profitability. Following the market open Thursday, shares plummeted, trading down 2.37 percent to $16.95 toward the end of the session.