Ford Brings In The Q1 Bacon

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Ford beat expectations with a first quarter 2011 net income of $2.6 billion, an increase of $466 million from the first quarter 2010. First quarter 2011 pre-tax operating profit was $2.8 billion. Ford Credit contributed $713 million to the pre-tax operating profit.

J.P. Morgan analyst Himanshu Patel called the Ford Credit results “unsustainable.” Patel had expected $428 million. He thinks the number reflects stronger-than-expected lease residuals. Which is good news if you own a Ford and want to sell it.

With a pretax operating profit of $293 million in Europe, Ford solidified its position in the Old Country. Ford reduced its debt by $2.5 billion in the quarter to $16.6 billion.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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 19 comments
  • PrincipalDan PrincipalDan on Apr 26, 2011

    Thumbs up to the Blue Oval Boys.

  • Jj99 Jj99 on Apr 26, 2011

    Hold the party. Wall Street was not impressed with Ford. Stock closed up a big twelve cents today. If Wall Street is not impressed, neither should you.

    • See 13 previous
    • Geeber Geeber on Apr 27, 2011

      @MikeAR High-income people are not overwhelmingly Republican in places like California and New York - which are where the housing bubble inflated the most, and people thus have a stronger motivation to default on a mortgage.

  • Acd Acd on Apr 26, 2011

    Maybe investors are concerned about Ford being the likely UAW strike target and that these high earnings might not last. It's hard to get excited about investing in a car company with gas prices headed toward $5.00 with no relief in sight--we saw what happened in 2008.

    • Golden2husky Golden2husky on Apr 26, 2011

      You, sir could teach righty tighty jj99 a lesson, one that's not printed in Consumer Reports, or endorsed by the Cato institute. As good as Ford is doing, there are a lot of hurdles in the way. High gas prices and the continued down economy are no doubt part of why the criminals on Wall Street are not singing the praises. I hope that changes soon as I want to cash in my $3 and change Ford purchase for a nice convertible...and I'd like to get it this summer...

  • Nevets248 Nevets248 on Apr 28, 2011

    Rebecca (I love the sound of my own voice) Lindland.....As Foghorn Leghorn would say,"I've seen better heads on a glass of root beer".

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