Ford Motor Company F is restructuring its standalone electric vehicle division and will see the departure of Doug Field, its chief EV, digital and design officer, next month, after nearly five years leading its software-defined EV efforts.
Instead of appointing a new external leader, Ford is integrating its EV, digital and design operations into a global manufacturing unit under COO Kumar Galhotra. The newly formed Product Creation and Industrialization unit will function as an end-to-end organization focused on delivering an extensive rollout of products, software and services.
Meanwhile, Alan Clarke, head of the Advanced Electric Vehicle Development team behind the Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform, has been promoted to vice president of Advanced Development Projects, with the California-based team continuing under a revised reporting structure. The upcoming vehicle, a midsize pickup based on Ford’s UEV platform and scheduled for release next year, was well positioned to carry forward within the new division.
Per Ford’s CEO Jim Farley, the new structure is designed to accelerate operations, reduce complexity and improve the quality and efficiency of digital experiences and vehicles.
Ford has aligned restructuring moves to achieve an 8% adjusted EBIT margin by 2029. The company also plans to refresh 80% of its North American lineup and 70% of its global lineup by volume by 2029, transition 90% of vehicles to updated electrical architectures with over-the-air capabilities by 2030 and offer electrified powertrains across roughly 90% of its global nameplates by that time. F carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
F’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Ford has outperformed the Zacks Automotive-Domestic industry and its peer Tesla, Inc. TSLA, but underperformed its arch-rival General Motors Company GM in the last six months. Its shares have gained 6.6% against the industry’s decline of 6.4%. Tesla has lost 10.8%, while General Motors has gained 33.2% in the same period.
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From a valuation perspective, F appears undervalued. Going by its price/sales ratio, the company is trading at a forward sales multiple of 0.29, lower than the industry’s 3.22. Tesla is trading at a forward sales multiple of 13.97, while General Motors is trading at 0.38.
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ford’s 2026 EPS has moved up 7 cents in the past 90 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for F’s 2027 EPS has moved up 3 cents in the past 60 days.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).