Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) has quietly become one of 2025’s unlikeliest comeback stories. After years of a sluggish share price, the stock is up roughly one‑third this year, outpacing the broader market, even as its electric‑vehicle unit bleeds billions of dollars. Fresh reports and analyst notes published today, 17 November 2025, show why Wall Street is suddenly “in love” with Ford again — and why the story is more complicated than a simple turnaround. [1]
Key Takeaways
- Ford shares are up about 30–37% in 2025, beating the S&P 500 and hovering near a 52‑week high, while still offering a dividend yield around 4.5–4.6%. [2]
- Wall Street’s enthusiasm is driven by Ford’s retreat from expensive EV bets and renewed focus on profitable trucks, vans and hybrids, even as the EV division continues to post multi‑billion‑dollar losses. [3]
- New data today show analysts trimming 2025 earnings estimates and institutional investors reshuffling positions, but the overall Street stance remains a cautious “Hold” with an average price target around $11.73 per share. [4]
- Ford’s latest digital push — selling certified pre‑owned vehicles on Amazon — underscores a broader strategy to turn software, subscriptions and online channels into a new profit engine. [5]
A 2025 Rally That Leaves the S&P 500 Behind
Ford’s stock has staged a powerful comeback this year. According to recent analysis, the shares have climbed about 37% year‑to‑date, including gains of nearly 16% over the past month alone. [6] Another snapshot from today’s coverage notes the stock is up 32% in 2025, versus roughly 14% for the S&P 500 — a gap that puts Ford firmly in market‑darling territory despite its “old economy” label. [7]
At today’s open, Ford traded around $13.20, near a 52‑week high of $13.97 and well above its 12‑month low of $8.44. The company carries a market capitalization of about $52.6 billion, with a price‑to‑earnings ratio near 11.4 and a relatively high P/E/G ratio above 4 — numbers that reflect both improved profitability and tempered growth expectations. [8]
For income‑oriented investors, Ford continues to flash another attraction: a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share (annualized $0.60), implying a yield around 4.5–4.6% at current prices. The payout ratio sits just over 50%, giving the company some room to maneuver if earnings soften. [9]
Yet valuation signals are mixed. A deep‑dive from Simply Wall St this week calculated a discounted cash flow (DCF) fair value of roughly $8.12 per share, suggesting the stock could be more than 60% overvalued on that long‑range model. But on earnings multiples, Ford looks cheap: its P/E of about 11 is well below an auto‑industry average near 18 and key peers around 23, leading the same analysis to label the shares undervalued using that yardstick. [10]
In other words, the 2025 rally hasn’t settled the debate — it’s intensified it.
Wall Street “in Love” With Ford’s EV Retreat
One of today’s most pointed commentaries comes from 24/7 Wall St, under the headline “Wall Street Is in Love With Ford.” It argues that investors are rewarding Ford not for EV heroics, but for backing away from its most aggressive electric dreams. [11]
The article highlights that:
- Ford’s latest quarterly results were solid but not spectacular: revenue up 9% to about $50.5 billion, and earnings per share jumping from roughly $0.22 to $0.60 year‑on‑year. [12]
- Despite setting what it calls a “recall record” this year, worries about warranty costs have largely faded from the stock narrative.
- The market is “besotted” with Ford’s pullback from electric vehicles, particularly reports that the company plans to stop manufacturing its flagship F‑150 Lightning EV pickup — a model many dealers were reportedly happy to see sidelined as demand cooled. [13]
Instead, investors are refocusing on Ford’s traditional strengths. In the U.S. market, Ford holds roughly 13% share, with overall U.S. sales up 6.6% through the first ten months of the year and F‑Series truck sales up 11.4% over the same period. [14] As EV shoppers hesitate and hybrid demand rises, Ford’s bread‑and‑butter trucks and SUVs suddenly look like an asset, not a liability.
24/7 Wall St goes so far as to say Ford has “reinvented itself as one of the premier fossil fuel–based companies in the world”, capturing how dramatically sentiment has swung from “legacy laggard” to “cash‑flow machine” in under two years. [15]
Ford’s Financial Balancing Act: Pro, Blue and Model e
A detailed piece from boerse‑global/ad‑hoc‑news, published this morning under the title “Ford’s Financial Balancing Act: Traditional Strength Versus EV Ambition,” lays out just how uneven Ford’s business mix has become. [16]
Key numbers for the first three quarters of 2025:
- Ford Pro (commercial vehicles and services) generated an impressive $5.6 billion in operating profit, emerging as the clear earnings engine of the group. [17]
- Ford Blue (internal combustion and hybrid passenger vehicles) contributed another $2.3 billion in profit.
- Model e, Ford’s dedicated EV division, posted a staggering $3.6 billion operating loss, more than wiping out the Blue division’s profit and consuming a big chunk of Ford Pro’s earnings. [18]
The article frames Ford as effectively two companies sharing one balance sheet: a highly profitable legacy and commercial business funding a capital‑hungry, loss‑making EV future.
Analysts, it notes, remain cautious. The consensus recommendation is a “Hold,” with an average price target around $11.73, slightly below where the stock trades today — implying that, on Wall Street’s spreadsheets, much of the easy upside may already be priced in. [19]
Earlier this year, major firms including JPMorgan and Piper Sandler cut their ratings or targets for Ford, citing surging EV investment costs and slower‑than‑expected adoption, especially in the U.S. mass market. [20]
Fresh 17 November Signals: EPS Cuts and Big‑Money Repositioning
Alongside the big narrative pieces, several data‑heavy items hit the tape today that help explain how professional money is reacting to Ford’s rally.
Zacks cuts 2025 earnings forecast
A MarketBeat summary of new Zacks Research work reports that analysts have cut their FY2025 EPS estimate for Ford from $1.13 to $1.04, well below the current Street consensus around $1.47 per share. [21]
Even after today’s revision, the overall analyst view remains:
- Rating: 3 Buys, 11 Holds, 2 Sells — an aggregate “Hold”.
- Average price target:$11.73 per share. [22]
The same report reiterates Ford’s 4.5% dividend yield, leverage ratios (debt‑to‑equity around 2.2), and modest but positive revenue growth, painting a picture of a mature cyclical rather than a high‑growth tech name. [23]
Institutions shuffle their Ford exposure
Two separate MarketBeat items today track how big investors are adjusting their stakes:
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) boosted its Ford position by 7.6% in Q2, to 957,894 shares valued at about $10.4 million. [24]
- LSV Asset Management trimmed its holding by about 1.7%, but still owns more than 18 million Ford shares, roughly 0.45% of the company, worth around $196 million at recent prices. [25]
Taken together, these moves highlight a rebalancing rather than an exodus. Some value‑oriented funds are happily riding the rally; others are locking in profits. Overall, about 59% of Ford’s stock is now in institutional hands, a sign that professional investors remain deeply engaged in the name. [26]
The EV Reset: Losses, Hybrids and the F‑150 Lightning Question
The tension underpinning all of today’s enthusiasm is that Ford is still losing huge sums on EVs.
In February, Ford told investors it expected up to $5.5 billion of losses in its EV and software operations in 2025, roughly in line with 2024’s red ink. At the same time, it projected lower total EBIT for 2025 (about $7.0–$8.5 billion) compared with $10.2 billion in 2024, underscoring how the EV push is weighing on group profit. [27]
To stop the bleeding, Ford has:
- Cancelled a planned three‑row electric SUV and delayed the next‑generation F‑150 Lightning.
- Shifted strategy to lean heavily on hybrids, which it believes can better weather policy uncertainty and consumer anxiety about charging and range.
- Sold roughly twice as many hybrids as full EVs last year — about 187,000 hybrids vs. 98,000 EVs — highlighting where actual demand has materialised. [28]
Reports this month that Ford may end production of the current F‑150 Lightning fit this pattern of retrenchment, even if the long‑term EV roadmap still includes a more affordable mid‑size electric pickup slated for 2027. [29]
Investors now appear to be betting that “less EV, more profit” in the near term will ultimately give Ford the balance sheet strength to launch competitive electric models later in the decade — a sharp contrast to rivals who went all‑in on battery EVs and are now backtracking.
Digital Partnerships and Subscriptions: Amazon, Google and BlueCruise
The “digital partnerships” mentioned in earlier rally coverage came into sharp focus today with a new headline: Ford will begin selling certified pre‑owned vehicles on Amazon.
A fresh Reuters report outlines the deal:
- Starting today, Amazon shoppers in Los Angeles, Seattle and Dallas can browse and buy certified pre‑owned Ford vehicles from participating dealers directly on Amazon’s platform.
- Purchases — including financing — are completed online, with buyers picking up vehicles from local dealerships.
- About 160–180 Ford dealers have expressed interest, and roughly 20 are in the process of launching on Amazon. [30]
Ford remains bound by U.S. franchise laws, so it cannot copy Tesla’s direct‑to‑consumer model outright. But this Amazon partnership effectively gives Ford and its dealers a powerful new digital storefront, tapping into Amazon’s hundreds of millions of users and normalising online car shopping as easily as buying electronics or household goods. [31]
This move slots neatly into a broader digital strategy:
- Ford has a multi‑year partnership with Google, using Google Cloud and building Android‑powered infotainment systems into future Ford and Lincoln vehicles. [32]
- The company is aggressively expanding Ford BlueCruise, a hands‑free driver‑assist system, and other connected services that can be sold as subscriptions or software upgrades. [33]
- Earlier this year, Ford hired a former Twitch and PlayStation executive, Mike Aragon, to lead its digital services, overseeing subscription products across Ford Pro, Ford Blue and Model e — a sign the automaker sees recurring digital revenue as a core pillar of its future. [34]
For investors trying to square Ford’s low‑teens P/E with its ambitions, these digital bets — from Amazon Autos to in‑car apps and driver‑assist features — are increasingly central to the bull case.
What Today’s Headlines Mean for Ford Stock
Pulling together all of today’s 17 November coverage, a few themes stand out:
- The 2025 rally is real, but not universally loved.
Ford has crushed the S&P 500 this year, yet valuation models disagree sharply on whether the stock is expensive or still cheap. The consensus “Hold” and modest price target suggest many analysts think the easy gains have already been made. [35] - Wall Street likes the EV reset more than EV hyper‑growth.
Commentators openly praise Ford’s decision to slow‑roll its EV push, even canceling or delaying halo projects like the F‑150 Lightning, in favor of profitable trucks and hybrids. The risk is that this could leave Ford behind if EV demand reaccelerates faster than expected. [36] - The business is a tug‑of‑war between cash cows and cash burners.
Ford Pro and Ford Blue are throwing off billions in profit. Model e is burning even more. Whether the stock can climb from here depends on Ford’s ability to shrink EV losses without sacrificing its long‑term competitiveness. [37] - Digital and distribution innovation are becoming real catalysts, not buzzwords.
Selling used cars on Amazon, expanding BlueCruise and building out a subscription ecosystem give Ford higher‑margin, software‑adjacent stories that investors tend to reward — if execution matches the headlines. [38] - Institutional money isn’t abandoning Ford — it’s re‑balancing.
Some major investors are adding to positions, others trimming. The overall picture is one of active, not panicked, portfolio management around a stock that’s had a big run. [39]
For current or prospective shareholders, Ford in late 2025 is neither a simple turnaround nor an obvious bubble. It’s a complex, evolving mix of:
- Classic Detroit truck profits,
- Expensive but necessary EV experimentation, and
- Growing digital and online‑sales ambitions that could, over time, change how the market values the company.
As always, anyone considering an investment should do their own research and consider their risk tolerance, timeframe and portfolio diversification. This article is for information only and does not constitute investment advice.
References
1. 247wallst.com, 2. 247wallst.com, 3. 247wallst.com, 4. www.marketbeat.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. simplywall.st, 7. 247wallst.com, 8. www.marketbeat.com, 9. www.marketbeat.com, 10. simplywall.st, 11. 247wallst.com, 12. 247wallst.com, 13. 247wallst.com, 14. 247wallst.com, 15. 247wallst.com, 16. www.ad-hoc-news.de, 17. www.ad-hoc-news.de, 18. www.ad-hoc-news.de, 19. www.ad-hoc-news.de, 20. www.ad-hoc-news.de, 21. www.marketbeat.com, 22. www.marketbeat.com, 23. www.marketbeat.com, 24. www.marketbeat.com, 25. www.marketbeat.com, 26. www.marketbeat.com, 27. www.reuters.com, 28. www.reuters.com, 29. 247wallst.com, 30. www.reuters.com, 31. www.reuters.com, 32. corporate.ford.com, 33. www.ford.com, 34. www.theverge.com, 35. simplywall.st, 36. 247wallst.com, 37. www.ad-hoc-news.de, 38. www.reuters.com, 39. www.marketbeat.com
