Today, the big news about legacy automaker Ford (F) was clearly the tariffs, which we have discussed at length over the last 24 hours. Those are of course weighing heavily on Ford right now, but not all the news is bad. In fact, Ford recently made some exciting changes to its F-150 Lightning electric pickup, a move that should be helpful going forward. But the tariffs killed the party, and shares plunged over 3.5% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
Word emerged about the 2025 F-150 Lightning, which will work, of course, with the North American Charging System (NACS) standard, as well as using Apple (AAPL) CarPlay, as we have noted before. It also boasts an improved BlueCruise system, which will allow for the ability to adjust speed while on an active curve. Just to top it off, there will even be some improvements in aesthetics with its new “Dark Elements” package.
The New F-150 will of course be able to use the NACS standard, opening up a range of new charging stations thanks to the Tesla (TSLA) Supercharger system. But the F-150 Lightning will be able to use those chargers faster, as it now has a maximum DC fast-charging current of 500 amps. Previously, that was only 450 amps, which represents a substantial improvement. All of this came without price hikes, though given that the lowest price is $62,995, that is not exactly much of a win.
Analysts Rebel
And while the F-150 Lightning’s improvements are certainly welcome, analysts were not exactly pleased either. Tariff concerns hung heavily over their projections, as JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman dropped the price target on Ford from $13 per share to $11.
While Ford is set to get a comparatively mild hike, especially when compared to its biggest immediate rival, General Motors (GM), it will still be a problem. Ford’s tariff hit will start around $2 billion, surging to $4.5 billion over time. GM, meanwhile, will start over five times that figure, at $10.5 billion, before eventually hitting $13 billion. Comparatively speaking, this is great news for Ford, who will take far, far less of a hit than GM will.
Is Ford Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on F stock based on four Buys, 10 Holds and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 19.61% loss in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $10.59 per share implies 6.49% upside potential.
