Ford Profit Tops Estimates on F-Series’ Boost to North America - The Washington Post

Ford Profit Tops Estimates on F-Series’ Boost to North America - The Washington Post: Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the second-largest U.S. automaker, reported fourth-quarter profit that exceeded estimates as demand for its F-Series pickups drove record results for its operations in North America.

Ford reported net income of $1.6 billion, or 40 cents a share. Excluding one-time items, the per-share profit was 31 cents, exceeding the 25-cent average estimate of 19 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The result compared with net income of $13.6 billion, or $3.40 a share, a year earlier, when a tax gain boosted fourth-quarter earnings.

Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally is using Ford’s turnaround in the U.S. to guide efforts to recover in Europe more quickly than competitors including General Motors Co. Rising demand for F-Series trucks in Ford’s home market paced a record $8.34 billion annual pretax profit for the company’s operations in North America, which countered overseas losses. Ford U.S. hourly workers will receive profit-sharing bonuses.

“I’m still bullish on Ford,” said Gary Bradshaw, a fund manager for Dallas-based Hodges Capital Management, which sold about half of its shares before they started to rally in late October. “I’m going to hang on and hope it comes back to $18 a share.” Ford closed at $13.78 yesterday in New York.

Ford reported net income of $5.67 billion for the full year. The profit in 2012 boosts the company’s earnings to $35.2 billion the past four years after losing $30.1 billion from 2006 through 2008.