“Most American Automaker”: Ford Stock (NYSE:F) Slides With New Ad Campaign

Advertising can often make the difference between a modest company and a major one. And Ford (F) is rolling out all manner of new advertising of late, seeking to draw attention to Ford’s status as the “most American automaker” around. But Ford investors did not seem to particularly care about Ford’s origins, or its patriotism, and sent shares down over 2% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.

Ford came out swinging, and hard, in its latest advertising efforts, noting that Ford was the only one of the “Big Three” Detroit automakers who did not accept federal bail-out money back during the “Great Recession,” financial crisis of 2008. Indeed, Ford did not take bail-out money, but rather, took back a $6 billion loan from the Department of Energy instead. It also took out loans against its various properties, up to and including the Blue Oval logo, reports noted.

Ford rolled out the ads during the NBA finals yesterday, and in the process, brought out another provocative assertion. It also declared itself the “most American” auto maker among the three, which includes Stellantis (STLA), who was formerly known as Chrysler, and General Motors (GM). Just to top it off, Ford also pointed out that it, unlike its contemporaries, has added jobs while said contemporaries cut them instead.

EV Discounts?

Meanwhile, Ford also brought out some exciting news via CEO Jim Farley. Farley noted that the next round of Ford electric vehicles were likely to be less expensive than the current round. This comes as a particular shock, because as people are well familiar with these days, prices very seldom go down. Moreover, we are talking about new models with improved features, which should suggest price increases, not declines.

But Farley noted that everything Ford has learned so far from its current generation electric vehicles will be going into the next generation. That means cost savings, and apparently, sufficient cost savings to mean that the cost to the customer can go down as well. That will be a welcome development for anyone previously on the fence about getting one of these new vehicles.

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 9.85% loss in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $9.71 per share implies 6.77% downside risk.

See more F analyst ratings

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