NEW YORK, June 2, 2026, 09:05 EDT
Ford Motor stock traded lower in premarket Tuesday, off at $16.56 after falling 4.64% to $16.63 Monday. That fall trimmed gains from the recent May run. The action happened before the NYSE opened at 9:30 a.m. ET, ahead of typical trading volume.
Ford’s drop is notable since the company had shifted away from trading like a basic cyclical auto stock. For the last two weeks, investors have been shifting their view on the shares to price in Ford Energy, which is the company’s battery storage unit linked to AI data-center power. This comes as U.S. equity futures eased off record levels.
Ford shares lagged on Monday. MarketWatch data had the stock down while the S&P 500 rose 0.26% and the Dow gained 0.09%. Tesla was off 4.57% and General Motors slipped 0.67%. Ford saw 95.4 million shares traded, well above its 50-day average of 58.2 million.
Ford Energy is in focus after Ford and EDF power solutions North America last month announced a deal. EDF could buy as much as 4 GWh a year of DC Block battery storage systems from Ford Energy, with the agreement calling for up to 20 GWh possible over five years. These battery containers store energy for grids and heavy users. The companies said deliveries should start in 2028.
Lisa Drake, president of Ford Energy, said the unit was “not simply delivering hardware.” EDF power solutions North America CEO Tristan Grimbert called “supply chain reliability and product quality” the top issues. Their comments put the deal closer to the shop floor than to Wall Street. Q4 CDN
Morgan Stanley’s Andrew Percoco kicked off the rally, saying there’s a “fairly high likelihood” Ford will land storage supply deals with big commercial clients and possibly hyperscalers, or major cloud and data center players. Percoco also pointed to Ford’s partnership with CATL on battery tech as an overlooked advantage in storage. The Star
Analyst views on Ford have turned more cautious. TipRanks said Percoco kept a Hold on the stock with a $14 target, noting the shares have run up about 45% since early May, making near-term gains less likely. Citi is also staying at Hold, with a $19 price target.
Ford is looking to pull in new revenue after a $19.5 billion writedown on its electric-vehicle bets. Reuters said the company started up a storage business, using space in the Kentucky plant that was meant for EV batteries.
AI stocks kept their momentum going with help from the wider market tone. Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, said the AI rally seemed “alive and well” as Hewlett Packard Enterprise popped after earnings and other data-center stocks gained in premarket trade. Reuters
Tesla’s China-made EV sales climbed 39.4% in May from a year ago. BYD is still putting pressure on foreign automakers in the market. Ford’s core auto business stays in focus, as debate over storage continues.
Chinese automakers are moving further into Europe as Ford looks to hold onto its commercial-vehicle edge in the region. BYD, Chery, Geely and SAIC have all expanded in Europe, Reuters said. Geely bought a stake in a Ford plant in Valencia, a Spanish trade outlet told Reuters.
Ford has work left to do. Barclays analyst Dan Levy figures Ford Energy could hit $3 billion in revenue and $300 million to $500 million in EBIT, or operating profit. But he said that outlook “should be balanced against questions of execution and ramp.” Tesla still leads in storage. TipRanks
Ford Energy traders are watching Monday’s close as Tuesday’s first line to hold. If buyers step in and keep prices above that mark at the open, the AI-storage premium has a shot at holding up. If not, more of that premium could come off the stock as the session gets going.
