We learned more about the state of global supply chains, consumer appetite for big-ticket items and the future of self-driving technology in the third quarter.
According to Yahoo Finance, Ford beat Wall Street analyst revenue estimates of $36.25 billion and total revenues of $39.25 billion, despite supply chain issues. The adjusted earnings per share came in better than expected.
The financial news was overshadowed by the company's choices regarding self-drive technology. The company that Ford invested in is shutting down.
According to Ford's earnings report, the company is shifting its capital spend from Level 4 systems to internally developed L2+/L3 systems.
John Lawler, Ford's chief financial officer, said during Wednesday's investor call that the company would have a sizable return in the near term.
Jim Farley, Ford's CEO, said "profitable, fully automated vehicles at scale are a long way off and we won't necessarily have to create that technology for ourselves"
He said during the call that they don't expect a "Aha!" moment. It will give our customers back the single most valuable commodity in our modern lives if we are able to advance Level 2 hardware and software beyond what Blue Cruise can do. It's time.
The company's profitability was negatively impacted by letting go of the investment. Ford had to take a $2.7 billion impairment on its stake in the car company. The company had a negative GAAP result for the three months.
The shift to focus on lower-level driver- assist technologies is notable.
The company had some good news to report, apart from its top- and bottom-line beats. Ford expects to make $11.5 billion in earnings before interest and taxes in the year 2022. Ford expects free cash flow to be between $9 billion and $10.0 billion this year and between $9 billion and $10.0 billion in the years to come. Ford's EBIT in the third quarter was above expectations.
The news of the dissolution of the company comes just a month after it launched a new service on the network. The products and services launched last month are intended to support commercial delivery. It is not known what will happen with those services now.
A lack of future deals from major car companies into smaller, tech-laden self-driving companies could be a result of Ford's view that it can forgo investments into pricey self-driving technology. Suppliers for those companies could be impacted by the decline in optimism.
Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said that it would be hard to achieve a fully self-sufficient vehicle. Rivian would try to get Level 2 and Level 3 systems on cars.
It's not the only company that's struggling with self-driving tech. According to reports, the U.S. Department of Justice is looking into the company regarding its autopilot system, which CEO Musk claims can drive itself in certain scenarios.
In a previous version of the article, a quote was wrongly attributed to Doug Field.
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