Detroit, May 31, 2026, 09:03 EDT
- Ford jumped 4.74% to finish Friday at $17.44, hitting a 52-week high earlier in the day at $17.78.
- U.S. markets are shut Sunday. Ford’s CFO Sherry House is due next at the UBS auto conference on June 3.
- Ford Energy, the company’s battery-storage arm linked to grid and data-center needs, has been more of a force behind the rally than the car business.
Ford Motor Co. shares climbed again Friday, sending the stock to multi-year highs as investors look to the automaker’s new energy-storage business to drive growth along with its truck and commercial lines.
Ford ended Friday at $17.44, adding 4.74%, after hitting $17.78. That was the high point in its 52-week range, according to StockAnalysis. The stock move came ahead of the Memorial Day holiday, with U.S. markets closed Monday and again Sunday for the weekend. NYSE trading hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET on regular days.
Ford is getting a different look in the market right now. Investors aren’t just seeing a typical Detroit automaker with a truck cycle and money-losing EVs. Traders are putting new focus on Ford Energy, which wants to sell battery energy storage systems. These are big batteries for grids, data centers, and industrial buyers.
Ford shares extended gains after the short trading week. The Wall Street Journal said the company finished Wednesday at $15.88, hitting its highest close since August 2022. By Friday, the stock moved up again.
Ford Energy and EDF power solutions North America have agreed on a five-year framework that could see EDF take up to 4 gigawatt hours a year of Ford Energy’s DC Block battery systems, with the total rising to 20 GWh if the deal runs its full term, the companies said May 18. Deliveries are set for 2028. A gigawatt hour measures stored power.
Lisa Drake, Ford Energy president, said the deal with EDF points to demand for a supplier that can build at scale and stand behind its products through the lifecycle. “We’re not simply delivering hardware,” Drake said. EDF North America CEO Tristan Grimbert said “supply chain reliability and product quality” are priorities as EDF grows its storage portfolio. Q4 Investor Relations
Ford’s auto unit carried the quarter again. First-quarter revenue rose 6% to $43.3 billion, net income reached $2.5 billion, and adjusted EBIT came in at $3.5 billion. Ford boosted its full-year adjusted EBIT outlook to $8.5 billion-$10.5 billion, factoring in a $1.3 billion one-time tariff gain.
Ford CEO Jim Farley said the results point to a more “resilient Ford.” CFO Sherry House said, “the path to higher margins is clear,” and pointed to cost cuts, software and services growth, and moves to sharpen EV performance. Ford Shareholder
The move was notable compared to rivals. General Motors dropped 1.29% Friday, Tesla slid 1.48%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF added 0.24%. Tesla is still seen as the established energy-storage player, but Ford’s pop signals investors chasing traditional automakers with any connection to AI-powered energy demand.
Analysts don’t agree on how much Ford should be rewarded here. BofA bumped its Ford price target to $20 from $17 and stayed at Buy. Deutsche Bank went to $15 from $12 but held its Hold. According to StockAnalysis, the average view from 21 analysts is Hold, with a $14.05 12-month target, lower than where the stock closed Friday.
But the shares have surged, leaving little cushion for setbacks. Ford Energy’s EDF shipments are not set to begin until 2028, and the main auto unit is still exposed to aluminum supply and cost risks affecting F-150 output. JPMorgan’s Ryan Brinkman said Ford “may be having a more difficult time” bouncing back from the Novelis plant fire than first thought, according to Reuters. Reuters
Ford investors will get an update this week as House appears at the UBS Auto and Auto Tech Conference in New York on Wednesday for a fireside chat with UBS analyst Joseph Spak. The session focuses on the Ford+ plan and is set for 8:50 a.m. ET. The automaker also said it will pay its regular quarterly dividend of 15 cents a share on June 1.
Ford’s stock is no longer following the old storyline, at least for now. Next, investors will look for management to give concrete figures on storage demand and show how they’ll keep truck margins intact. The question is if this week’s rally is just excitement about AI-linked power demand, or if it’s something more.
