Ford left ‘$2B of profits on the table’ in 2022 • TechCrunch

Ford reported Thursday it earned $10.4 billion in net income last year, falling well below its own guidance and missing Wall Street’s expectations as the U.S. automaker struggled with supply chain issues and production instability that drove down sales and pushed operating costs higher.

Shares fell as much as 8.3% in after-market trading, before recovering. Ford shares are $13.56, down 5.3% in after-market trading.

Ford CEO Jim Farley said that many of its misses were in the company’s control.

“We should have done much better last year,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. “We left about $2 billion in profits on the table that were within our control, and we’re going to correct that with improved execution and performance.”

Farley emphasized his optimism for Ford, noting that the company has been reorganized into three business units: Ford Blue for gas and hybrid vehicles, Ford Model e for connected EVs and Ford Pro for its commercial products. Farley said 2023 would be pivotal for the automaker.

Breakdown of the numbers

Ford generated $44 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022. For the full-year, Ford reported $158.1 billion in revenue.

Ford’s net income was $1.3 billion for the fourth quarter and a net loss of $2 billion for the year. On an adjusted earnings basis, Ford earned $2.6 billion in the fourth quarter and $10.4 billion for all of 2022. Ford’s net income on an adjusted earnings before interest and taxes in 2021 was $10 billion.

Ford had issued guidance that it would earn full-year guidance of adjusted earnings basis between $11.5 billion and $12.5 billion. That’s a miss of $1.1 billion for the year.

Ford said operating cash flow for the year was $6.9 billion and full-year adjusted free cash flow was $9.1 billion. The company reported that as of the end of 2022, it had $32 billion in cash on hand.