A real surprise emerged, thanks to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The Journal noted that legacy automaker Ford (F) was looking for new sources for hybrid vehicle batteries. And it was planning to turn to none other than BYD (BYDDF) to get them. That move left investors concerned, as evidenced by the fractional drop in Ford shares that hit in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
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The report suggests that Ford is trying to buy batteries for hybrid vehicles from BYD, from factories outside the United States. The report also noted that there may never be an actual deal to emerge from this process, a deal which could prove downright perilous for Ford. Ford representatives noted cannily, “We talk to lots of companies about many things.”
If Ford actually went this route, it might well run afoul of some of the Trump administration’s tariffs, as well as turn on the man they literally just had touring their manufacturing plant. It also raises some unpleasant questions about the buildings in Kentucky which Ford had in conjunction with SK On, which were supposed to be making electric car batteries.
Free Carhartt Stuff With Job
Hey mechanics, interested in a job? Want some free Carhartt gear to go with it? Then you may want to start talking to Ford, which is planning to offer up Carhartt merch to go along with the jobs Ford is desperately trying to fill right now.
Ford got together with the apparel maker to help drive interest in job training programs and get more already-interested mechanics into the line of work. A three-part partnership between Ford, Carhartt and ToolBank USA will see Ford hand over a free F-150 to ToolBank, ToolBank lending 25,000 tools a year to both workers and volunteers, and Carhartt offering up free workwear, along with launching some co-branded products.
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, 11 Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 38.26% rally in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $13.77 per share implies 0.36% downside risk.
