Ford raises guidance after Q2 earnings beat, says F-Series recovery is on track

DETROIT — Ford Motor raised its 2026 earnings forecast Tuesday after beating Wall Street's second-quarter earnings expectations despite reporting a decline in revenue that slightly missed estimates.

Here's how the company performed in the second quarter, compared with average estimates compiled by LSEG:

The Detroit automaker cited operational improvements, resilient vehicle pricing and a high sales mix of profitable products for its performance as well as the improved guidance.  

Ford's raised guidance includes full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of between $10 billion and $11 billion, up from $8.5 billion to $10.5 billion. It also raised its expectations for adjusted free cash flow to $6 billion to $7 billion, up from $5 billion to $6 billion.

The additional free cash flow includes an earlier-than-expected cash recovery of $500 million of a previously announced $1.3 billion anticipated tariff reimbursement, the company said.

The earnings raise was led by a $500 million expected improvement to its traditional Ford Blue business to between $5 billion and $5.5 billion. It also narrowed earnings of its fleet business to between $7 billion and $7.5 billion from a previous low range of $6.5 billion.

"We delivered another strong quarter and raised our full-year guidance, but the more important story is the growing evidence that Ford is becoming a more profitable, more disciplined and genuinely different company," Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a release. 

Ford also cut expected losses of its Model e EV business to about $4 billion, compared with previous expectations of losses between $4 billion and $4.5 billion, and said it also expected slightly better results for its credit arm. 

Each of the automotive business groups reported lower revenue compared with what analysts were expecting. Ford's total revenue, which includes its financial arm, was down 4% during the second quarter compared to a year earlier to $48.3 billion.

Ford reported a net loss of $1.3 billion during the second quarter largely due to one-time special charges related to its previously announced pullback in all-electric vehicles. The $4.2 billion in charges included $3.6 billion in restructuring of its BlueOval SK joint venture battery plant with SK On and $500 million due to a canceled EV program.

That loss was wider than the $36 million net loss it reported during the second quarter of 2025.

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Ford reconfirmed plans to deliver full-year material and warranty cost reductions of approximately $1 billion despite an influx of recent recalls for the automaker.

Ford CFO Sherry House said the automaker's recovery of F-Series pickup truck production will continue into the back half of the year, reconfirming a roughly $1 billion improvement compared with last year's reported impact.

"We're successfully navigating the Novelis aluminum supply recovery plan, and we remain confident in our net $1 billion EBIT improvement in 2026, heavily weighted to the second half of the year," House said during a media call.

The automaker has had production problems with its F-Series trucks since Novelis, an aluminum supplier that provides material for its large trucks and SUVs, had two fires that crippled production. It restarted impacted production last month at that New York facility.

Ford said Tuesday it expects to recover about $2.5 billion of its vehicle volume lost due to the fires, which was the low end of a range of up to $3 billion. 

Heading into Ford's earnings report, Jefferies upgraded Ford and General Motors' stocks to buy from hold. Analyst Philippe Houchois said Ford is on track to start building momentum again, with the second quarter set to mark a trough.

"We see Q2 as a low point for volume with post-Novelis production set to normalize up," Houchois wrote. "With US market conditions healthy, management could raise guidance at Q2."