Ford Releases 1Q15 Earnings on April 28
Ford Posts 1Q15 Earnings: It Was a Challenging Quarter (Part 1 of 5)
Ford’s 1Q15 earnings
The Ford Motor Company (F) released its 1Q15 earnings on April 28. It generated EPS (earnings per share) of $0.23 on revenues of $33.9 billion. Its 1Q15 results were lower compared to 1Q14 when it posted EPS of $0.24.
Key metrics from 1Q15 earnings
As you can see in the above chart, Ford’s 1Q15 revenues declined $2 billion on a year-over-year basis. Almost 70% of the revenue decline was due to the strength of the US dollar (UUP) versus other currencies. Since Ford is a company with a global footprint, it’s exposed to currency volatility.
A decline in wholesale sales also led to lower 1Q15 revenues. Ford has launched several new models in the last couple of months, including the full aluminum body F-150 pickup truck. Companies push new models through retail sales rather than wholesale fleet sales. Wholesale sales tend to be lower margins, and auto companies generally push the slower moving models through wholesale sales.
Since Ford is still in the process of ramping up the capacity of its F-150, its best-selling model, its revenues were negatively affected in the United States. Alcoa (AA) is among the companies that have supplied aluminum sheet products for the F-150.
But what other factors drove Ford’s North American revenues in 1Q15? We’ll find out in the next part of this series.
What will we cover in this series?
In this series, we’ll take a detailed look at Ford’s 1Q15 earnings. We’ll see how Ford’s business segments fared in the quarter. We’ll also look at Ford’s market share in the global automotive industry. Toyota Motors (TM) and General Motors (GM) are the top two auto companies in terms of global market share.
Browse this series on Market Realist:
