Business
Ford CEO Jim Farley touching an F-150 Lightning
Ford CEO Jim Farley isn’t feeling so close to the F-150 Lightning these days (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Ford’s EV biz lost the value of about 100,000 new F-150s last year

Electric vehicles still arent providing the spark Fords looking for.

In its latest earnings report, released Wednesday, Ford announced another quarter in the red for its EV division, as expected. Broader results and 2025 guidance also disappointed investors, who sent the stock 4.5% lower after hours.

With its Q4 loss of $1.4 billion, Fords total EV loss climbed to $5.1 billion in 2024. Thats up from 2023s loss of $4.7 billion, and more than double 2022s loss of $2.1 billion. Put another way, Fords EV biz lost about the value of 100,000 new F-150s last year.

Measured against those losses: the 98,000 electric vehicles Ford sold in 2024 (a 35% increase from 2023). The carmaker also sold 187,000 hybrids and about 1.8 million gas-powered vehicles — all increases, though just barely for combustion vehicles.

The automaker is planning lower-cost EVs and extended range EVs, but both lines are reportedly still two years away. In the meantime, the electric F-150 Lightning was outsold in Q4 by Tesla’s Cybertruck (which itself has stalled out).

Overall, Fords revenue climbed to $48.2 billion on the quarter, capping the automakers highest revenue year ever. Profit grew to $1.8 billion in the three-month period.

Ford’s been toughing it through a bumpy start to the year, with its stock (along with other major auto stocks) dropping and then making a U-turn as President Trump’s planned tariffs on Canada and Mexico were announced and then delayed. The auto industry could be the hardest hit by the proposed levies.

82% of Fords North American vehicles are made in the US, so its less exposed to tariffs than archrival General Motors, which built around 900,000 vehicles in Mexico last year. Still, Fords not fully in the clear: key components for some of its most popular vehicles (including F-series pickups) are imported from across America’s northern and southern borders. Additionally, Fords Lincoln Nautilus is built in China, and will be impacted by Trumps new 10% tariff on goods from that country.

If Trump’s planned 25% tariffs do ultimately get tagged onto vehicles, some analysts believe the average price of a car could rise by $3,000. That would be added on top of Ford’s $57,000 average transaction price, which is already about $2,000 above the average prices for rivals GM, Stellantis, and Tesla.

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Report: OpenAI won’t pay a dime in cash for its 3-year licensing deal for Disney IP

More financial details behind the landmark deal that will grant OpenAI three years of access to Disney intellectual property are coming out, and they’re pretty surprising.

The deal will reportedly see OpenAI pay zero dollars in licensing fees, instead compensating Disney in stock warrants. It was previously reported that Disney would invest $1 billion into OpenAI as part of the agreement.

It’s very abnormal for Disney to grant anyone access to its massive IP library without a cash payment, and the entertainment juggernaut has been known to strike down even crocheted Etsy Yodas for infringing on its turf. In its fiscal year 2025, Disney booked more than $10 billion in revenue from licensing fees across merchandising, television, and theatrical distribution.

It’s very abnormal for Disney to grant anyone access to its massive IP library without a cash payment, and the entertainment juggernaut has been known to strike down even crocheted Etsy Yodas for infringing on its turf. In its fiscal year 2025, Disney booked more than $10 billion in revenue from licensing fees across merchandising, television, and theatrical distribution.

business

Ford says it will take $19.5 billion in charges in a massive EV write-down

The EV business has marked a long stretch of losing for Ford, and today the automaker announced it will take $19.5 billion in charges tied, for the most part, to its EV division.

Ford said it’s launching a battery energy storage business, leveraging battery plants in Kentucky and Michigan to “provide solutions for energy infrastructure and growing data center demand.”

According to Ford, the changes will drive Ford’s electrified division to profitability by 2029. The company will stop making its electric F-150, the Lightning, and instead shift to an “extended-range electric vehicle” that includes a gas-powered generator.

The Detroit automaker also raised its adjusted earnings before interest and taxes outlook to “about $7 billion” from a range of $6 billion to $6.5 billion.

Ford’s write-down is one of the largest taken by a company as legacy automakers scale back on EVs, giving EV-only automakers a market share boost.

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