Ford Reports Strong Q1 Profits, Raises Full-Year Earnings Guidance
Despite crimped F-150 production due to a supplier fire, Ford Motor Co. reported strong earnings numbers for the first quarter of the year, even raising full-year earnings guidance due to a $1.3 billion tariff refund due the company.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker’s Q1 revenue rose 6 percent to $43.3 billion. Meanwhile the company’s net income jumped substantially from 471 million a year ago to $2.5 billion in 2026. Ford also saw adjusted earnings of $3.5 billion, which was also big increase over year-ago numbers. The numbers exceeded analysts’ predictions, which called for adjusted earnings per share of 19 cents, but Ford came in at 66 cents per share.
The rise in profitability came, in part, from a $1.3 billion one-time International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariff reimbursement, strong product mix and net pricing, and growth in software and physical services, according to officials.
As a result, Ford revised its full-year adjusted earnings guidance up $500 million to between $8.5 billion to $10.5 billion. General Motors reported a tariff benefit of $500 million, and it raised its earnings guidance upward the full amount of the benefit. The reimbursements are coming after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled some of the tariffs implemented by the Trump administration were illegal.
Ford officials said the company didn’t make the same type of prediction because is still dealing with the aftermath of the two fires at its aluminum supplier, Novelis. The company’s slowed production of its top-selling F-150 pickup because production at the aluminum plant won’t resume until sometime late in the second quarter.
Sherry House, Ford’s CFO, said she expected the company would make up lost profit on the trucks in the second half of the year. Although the company finished the quarter in the black, it’s still struggling to turn its flagging electric vehicle unit, Ford Model e, around. It posted a $777 million loss for the quarter, which was more than some analysts expected.
“We still think Ford's future is bright. The company is driving a richer vehicle mix, with revenue rising despite lower wholesales,” wrote Piper Sandler Analyst Alex Potter in an investor note. “Meanwhile, high-margin software & service revenue — now expected to grow 8 percent annually through 2030 — should be a key driver of Ford's path to 8 percent EBIT margins by 2029.”
[Images: Ford]
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Michael Strong has spent more than 25 years writing about the automotive industry. A Detroit-area native, he’s written about everything from local car shows to product reviews to financial news. Currently he writes and edits for a variety of national and local publications. He’s also a longtime member of the Automotive Press Association and the International Motor Press Association, and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Hail Southern! Despite a love for ’70s land yachts and BMWs from the late ’80s and early ’90s, his personal vehicle is neither of those.
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Impressive given 420 recalls and BEV write offs.
No mention about how Ford brags about having the highest % of American built vehicles, and yet its tariff refund of $1.3 billion dwarfs that of GM ($500m) and Stellantis ($469m)?