American carmaker Ford Motor has significantly increased its net profit in the first quarter, and the adjusted figure was almost four times higher than the market forecasts.
According to the company’s press release, revenue in January-March grew 6% year-on-year to $43.3bn. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected the figure to be $42.7bn.
Net income last quarter was $2.55 billion, or 63 cents per share, compared with $471 million, or 12 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. The figure includes a one-time gain of $1.3 billion from duty refunds related to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a number of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Adjusted earnings rose to 66 cents per share from 14 cents. Experts had forecast a figure of 18 cents per share.
Quarterly auto sales fell 4 per cent to 934,000 vehicles.
Ford raised its 2026 adjusted EBIT forecast to $8.5-10.5 billion from $8-10 billion, but CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson suggests that the company could have raised the forecast more, given how much its results beat expectations.
The automaker is still targeting full-year adjusted free cash flow of $5-6 billion and capital expenditures of $9.5-10.5 billion.
On Tuesday, Ford declared a quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share. The payment will be made on 1 June and the shareholder register will close on 12 May.
Quotes of shares of the company fell by 1.3% in additional trading on Wednesday after the publication of reports.