Ford says F-150 supplier issue resolved, output to hit year's high in October
Ford shares fall 0.2% to $12.25 in pre-market trading after an earlier 1.1% drop on the news
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Ford said a supplier issue that disrupted production of its F-150 pickup will not alter this year's adjusted operating profit guidance. Shares slipped 1.1% before paring the loss, trading 0.2% lower at $12.25 in pre-market trading.
The disruption halted F-150 output at Ford's Dearborn and Kansas City plants, according to SlashGear. Dearborn was down for nearly a week before production resumed on October 1, EDC Tips reported. Ford has not named the supplier or component involved. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters, as reported by CBT News, that the shortage was unrelated to the fires at aluminum supplier Novelis that hit truck production earlier this year. Chief Executive Jim Farley confirmed that link was not a factor, SlashGear reported, and said the interruption would still show up in Ford's third-quarter wholesale figures. Farley also said F-150 output is expected to reach its highest level of the year in October, according to Ford Authority.
The F-150 is Ford's largest single generator of profit, which is why a supplier disruption on that line draws scrutiny even when the company calls it contained. It comes after a fuel tank recall in September and a slide in Ford shares to five-month lows later that month, keeping investor attention on reliability and supply chain execution rather than on the China exposure questions raised earlier this year. Management's decision to hold full-year guidance steady suggests it is treating this as a production hiccup rather than a threat to earnings, but the repeated run of supplier and recall problems on Ford's core truck line is the kind of pattern investors will be watching for again when the company reports quarterly results.