Recently, legacy automaker Ford (F) took some around for a tour of its “skunk works” operation in Long Beach, California. The electric vehicle development center (EVDC) has a lot going on, and it even has its own built-in corporate zeitgeist. A set of 12 “commandments” of the EVDC adorn the walls, and reports of just what they were slipped out. The news was sufficiently palatable to investors to prompt them to buy in and send Ford shares up modestly in Friday’s trading.
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The commandments in question basically make up the corporate culture therein, and deliver some welcome insights by themselves. Most of these make sense immediately: “Fight Silos,” “Democratize,” “Step on Toes,” “Simplify,” “Be the End User,” “It’s ‘Your Job’,” “Explore Constraints,” “Earn our Right to Exist,” and “Demonstrate Ownership” are all pretty clear, focused mainly on delivering a quality product while being accountable and keeping at least some focus on the bottom line.
However, the outstanding three are a bit less clear. Those three are, “Down to the Atom,” “Sir Isaac Newton Decides,” and “Fail Fast.” While Ford did not explain these specifically, some inferences can be drawn. “Down to the Atom” and “Sir Isaac Newton Decides” seem both connected to physics, in that the things that actually work are the things to go with. “Fail Fast,” meanwhile, encourages a certain amount of failure in order to learn, and then, carry on from there.
When Your Car Dodges
Ever have your car get hit by something in a parking lot? Ever wish your car could maybe get out of the way sometimes? It turns out that Ford may be working on just such a system, which would allow your car to use external cameras to identify things that are about to hit it, and then move itself out of the way to let whatever it is pass through unimpeded.
The system, which dates back to a patent filed in late 2023, is known as “System for Detecting Moving Objects.” The vehicle’s external sensors would be able to detect, say, a shopping cart rolling around unassisted, and then activate the car to drive itself out of the way. This would only be useful in some situations, of course. But every collision that could be avoided is one less trip to the body shop to pound out a dent or buff out a scratch.
Is Ford Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on F stock based on three Buys, nine Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 16.78% rally in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $13.69 per share implies 11.46% upside potential.
