Shares of Ford Motor are sliding on Thursday morning, down 1.5% at $11.59, after the company announced it is slashing its guidance for the first quarter. The automaker sees adjusted first quarter earnings of $0.30 to $0.35 per share, well below the $0.47 that is expected by the Bloomberg consensus. The company cites “higher costs (including commodities, warranty, and investments in emerging opportunities); lower volume (primarily fleet); and unfavorable exchange” as reasons for the revision.
Ford’s revised first quarter outlook comes following a Morgan Stanley note that was releasd on March 20 where the firm reiterated its underweight rating and $11 target for the stock. “We believe a decline in used car values may occur a bit later than consensus, but could also prove to be far more severe,” the team led by equity analyst Adam Jonas wrote. “We see Ford as particularly vulnerable given the size of its Finco program relative to other OEMs.”
On Wednesday, Fitch released a report that showed subprime auto loan deliquency rates are moving higher.
Shares of Ford are down 3% so far in 2017.