Ford earns $13.62B profit in 4Q

Without that accounting change, the company earned 20 cents per share. It was Ford's 11th straight quarterly profit. All that and no bailout money.

Ford never got bailed out. Never asked for Government $$ and are strong as ever!! Bravo Ford!

Misleading Article - the accounting change here is not really an accounting change. Ford has significant losses which it can offset against future income. FASB 109 allows for the booking of that potential "tax benefit" as an asset, which in fact it is. However, to book such an asset a Company must evaluate whether they will actually be able to utilitze those past net operating losses (NOL's). Since Ford was bleeding red no good accountant would allow them to anticipate using those losses in future years as there was no reason to believe or project profits previous to Ford's turn around. Now that they are profitable it is projected that those losses will be utilized in future periods. That is why thost "deferred tax assets" were added back onto the books which would create a reduction in taxes (income pickup). While not a postive cash flow item currently, it will be in future periods.

Hopelessly complex tax laws , foggy , misleading accounting methods , financial jargon , antiquated reporting methods , obfuscation every minute of every day , loathsome ( if not criminal political slugs ) reaping untold rewards from insider information , tea partiers begging for truth , smaller and responsible government & accountability being chastised daily , disgust for our government bordering on revolution , seeming inablity or unwillingness to " take on " real problems , shrinking military , illegal swarms from around the world and on and on , ad nauseam , makes me fear for the country as never before.............Ford earns $13.62 Billion in 4th qtr. , caveat being , due to accounting change !!!!!!!!!! #$%$ !!!!!!!! Chicanery and #$%$ still running rampant daily !!!!!!!! Did they make any money or didn't they ????? #$%$ is so hard about telling the truth in ENGLISH ????? And Ford is probably better than most !!!!!!!!!

A profit by accounting changes, but a profit nonetheless....and a profit without sucking on the government teats.

WELL Done......

Ford, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE use this 'profit' to pay down your incredible debt so we (your share holders) can also benefit.

Give you profit? at least the taxpayer still doesnt own 25% of the company like GM...They are adding a Dividend for common stock, going AAA credit, revamped the manufacturing globally, and retooled their entire lineup of vehicles. We'll see what they report on GM the way overvalued & priced company...Sure back to #1 when you never wanna pay back the suppliers or investers you took to the woodshed & offer incentives at the taxpayers expense to push your vehicles...Im sure Big brother helps with your exports & the soon to be flop Volt. Rather put my money in a winner...Go Mulally!

And yet they are trading down. Ford is underpriced at 12.

Companies that are owned by someone, have that person's name on the building, and that person or persons help lead the company tend to do better in the long haul.

It's amazing that an accounting department can be a profit-center. Guess they should put them on commission for even better future results.

This profit due to accounting changes only points out the flaws in our tax system. Taxes and government accounting rules should never drive business decisions. Some people will not like the fact of a corporation using accounting rules to make a profit, however businesses will identify legal methods to make them advantageous to all their stakeholder. Great job! Please don't lose sight that Ford is sharing profits with its employees. See profits are a great thing President Obama. :-)

Profit due to accounting changes... no surprise there.

If a company is resorting to "account changes", as an investor, it is time to abandon ship!

wow a 13 billion profit due to accounting changes. That's crazy because if they didn't make the changes teh article said they would have fallen short of wall streets expectations. That's what's wrong with financial reporting, so many things can be changed to make a profit appear when there really wasn't

"Ford moved $15.7 billion worth of tax credits"

That's NOT government help? Then what IS it?

Ford gave too much to the unions on the last contract, like agreeing to add 5000+ entry level jobs, over and above the 5000+ they had already state they were adding. Why put that into a labor agreement. Create jobs if the business climate warrants them.

The inmates are taking over the asylum... again.

Excellent, cooking the books to make themselves look profitable!!! NICE what a great legal ponzi scheme this stock market is.

For all those ignorant posters Ford mortgaged the farm just prior to the 2008 economic meltdown otherwise they would have been in line for a government loan (not bailout) just like GM and Chrysler.....these loans and bankruptcy were the right coarse of action and 4 years later prove it was the right thing to do....Turbo capitalists are delusional , we are not a capitalist nation...we are a Republic with democratic traditions and a capitalist/socialist economic tradition..(socialist ie Government involvement)

Not sure how the union can get $6100/ea on an accounting profit??? Doesn't look like they contributed squat! There goes a $1/4 B of that "profit". i agree with one more comma. Pay down that debt for a richer future.