One of the great guiding principles for legacy automaker Ford (F) these days is “No Boring Cars.” Ford sought to get out of the past, with cars like the Focus and the Taurus seemingly forgotten under an onslaught of pickups, SUVs, and electric vehicles. But the normal car may be making a comeback at Ford, a move that left investors upbeat. Ford shares rose nearly 2% in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
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Ford is not completely out of the “regular” car market, even if it wants to distance itself from the “boring” car market. But the Taurus is only available in a handful of markets, and the Mustang is more a “niche model” than anything. However, there are plans to step up the regular car offering, according to William Clay Ford Jr.
Ford noted, “On the passenger car side, we realize we’re not as robust as we need to be.” Indeed, that is so, but then Ford delivered the real bombshell: “We’re working on our future strategy right now. But I think you’ll be surprised—pleasantly surprised—by what’s coming.” Just what that surprise is remains unclear, of course—that is why they call it a surprise—but Ford could certainly use some new surprises to draw customers in on something other than price.
SecuriAlert Comeback
Meanwhile, news emerged of a new trademark filing that is actually a bit on the old side. Ford filed a trademark for the term SecuriAlert. The trademark filing, reports note, comes with a patent filing as well that covers a range of functions. These functions include “…vehicle locating, tracking and security system…,” as well as “…vehicle locator and recovery device…”
SecuriAlert has been a thing since 2021, reports note, when it was originally launched in Europe. But it did not last long. It only lasted about two years, in fact, before being discontinued. And, with Ford said to be working on a new version of a pickup camera based on the acquisition of a different company, there may be a much larger goal in play here. Will it be enough to tip customers back into the Ford camp? Only time will tell.
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, eight Holds and three Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 10.51% rally in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $10.70 per share implies 6.67% downside risk.
