Ford Leases Out Part of a Kentucky EV Battery Plant: Ford Stock (NYSE:F) Slips

Not so long ago, legacy automaker Ford (F) put together some new battery plants in Kentucky, as part of a joint venture with SK On, one of South Korea’s biggest names in battery manufacture. But with electric vehicle ambitions pared back, a lot of that capacity has gone, so far, unused. But new reports suggest that Ford found a use for some of it, thanks to fellow carmaker Nissan (NSANY). This proved little help to Ford shares, however, as they dropped over 2% in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.

A report from the Wall Street Journal notes that Ford had two battery factories down in Kentucky, and only part of one was actually producing batteries for Ford. A deal between Ford and Nissan will now see the plant make batteries for Nissan as well, in a bid to get around the recent tariff hikes put in place. This is particularly noteworthy, as Nissan recently announced that it shut down plans for a future battery factory to be opened in Japan.

Ford has been reeling, the report notes, from the lack of electric vehicle demand. But the Nissan batteries, reports noted, would be going into electric vehicles made at its plant in Canton, Mississippi. Whether or not Nissan would ultimately become a customer of Ford’s, however, was left off the table, at least for now.

Does Nissan Know What It’s In For?

This revelation comes at an unexpected time for just about everyone, particularly anyone who has been following Ford closely of late. About two weeks ago, we found out that the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky was, well…we should just say that it was not in the best of shape, according to some reports. Some reports, in fact, that were filed with regulatory officials, reports that BlueOval SK officials called “inaccuracies” and “blatant lies.”

The reports varied on just what was involved in these reports, with everything ranging from blocked emergency exit doors to a risk of chemical exposure, as well as a management team with a tendency to “…terminate anyone who reports any issues,” noted reports.

Is Ford Stock a Good Buy Right Now?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on F stock based on two Buys, 12 Holds and three Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 10.89% loss in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $9.59 per share implies 8.62% downside risk.

See more F analyst ratings

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