Ford's Outlook Is Solid, But Cycle Concerns Likely To Linger

Ford Motor Company F Emmanuel Rosner of CLSA offered on update on the company and stock Monday morning following a recent sell-side breakfast with CEO Mark Fields.

Rosner, who maintains an Outperform rating and $15 price target on shares of Ford, noted several key takeaways from Ford's Fields.

"...the CEO’s key message was that Ford is committed to taking a long-term approach to how it runs the business and invests, including a strong focus on smart mobility, which management will provide more details on at its
September investor day," according to Rosner.

Overall the CLSA analyst liked that Fields pointed to conditions which "should remain positive for some time, with US continuing at robust levels and international results improving, while Ford’s transformation puts it in a significantly better position for when a downturn does eventually come."

Rosner concluded with a bit of a warning: "Although Ford has continued to deliver record results, we worry the stock may continue to struggle to capture investor attention with an outlook calling for flattish and front-end loaded earnings this year under optimal conditions."