NEW YORK, Jan 9, 2026, 09:27 EST — Premarket
Ford Motor (F.N) shares edged lower in premarket trading on Friday, hovering near a 52-week peak after Thursday’s jump. The stock was down 0.2% at $14.37. It rose 4.8% on Thursday and touched $14.50.
The move has refocused attention on Ford’s push to sell more software and driver-assistance features, a harder story to tell when the car market is soft. Ford has said it will bring a Level 3 driver-assistance system to market in 2028 on a new EV platform; Level 3 means drivers can take their hands and eyes off the road on certain highways. Mercedes-Benz already offers a highway-only Level 3 system in some U.S. states, while Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” is still a Level 2 feature that requires drivers’ eyes on the road. reuters.com
Rates are another lever. A Labor Department report showed U.S. payrolls rose by 50,000 in December versus expectations for 60,000, and the unemployment rate eased to 4.4%. Investors were also bracing for a Supreme Court ruling on President Donald Trump’s tariffs that traders said could trigger wider market swings.
A broker upgrade helped drive Thursday’s move. Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter lifted Ford to “overweight” from “neutral” and raised his price target to $16 from $11. The firm pointed to Ford’s pullback from its first-generation EVs and said a next platform due in 2027 could leave more room for profits, helped by lower warranty spending and a better mix. GuruFocus
The call landed as Detroit keeps trimming EV ambitions. General Motors said it would take a $6 billion charge to unwind some EV investments, and the company said the move followed Ford’s bigger $19.5 billion writedown tied to canceled EV programs. “GM’s lack of hybrid exposure could partially reverse recent market share gains,” CFRA equity analyst Garrett Nelson wrote. reuters.com
For chart-watchers, Ford is trading above its 50-day moving average of about $13.22 and its 200-day average near $12.20, levels that often act as support when momentum fades.
But the upside story still comes with time risk. Ford’s Level 3 system is years away, and the company faces legal and cost distractions now, including an amended lawsuit accusing three California lawyers of a lemon-law overbilling scheme that Ford called “an assembly line of fraud.” reuters.com
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