Ford beat Wall Street expectations Thursday, driven in large part by cost reductions.

Here’s how the company did compared to what Wall Street expected:

• Adjusted EPS: 43 cents vs. 32 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
• Revenue: $36.5 billion vs. $32.8 billion expected in the Thomson Reuters survey.

On a per share basis, net earnings rose to 39 cents, a 15 cent increase over the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported third-quarter earnings of 43 cents a share, which outpaced analyst expectations of 32 cents.

Ford reported $36.5 billion in revenue, beating analyst expectations of $32.8 billion.

Net income was $1.6 billion, compared with $1 billion in the same quarter of 2016.

“I would say to investors, we have already created value, we have had a strong seven-year run,” Ford CFO Bob Shanks told CNBC’s Squawk Box Thursday. “This year is going to be another good year.”

Shanks said Ford is improving its fiscal health as the industry moves further into new automotive technologies, such as electric and autonomous vehicles. Ford plans to bring an autonomous vehicle to market in 2021 and an electric vehicle in 2020.

The company gave a full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance range of $1.75-$1.85.

Strong performance in North America and a record pre-tax profit in Asia drove automotive profits, Ford said.

Adjusted pre-tax profit of $2 billion was $548 million higher than the same quarter last year, driven by favorable costs and market factors, the company said.

Average transaction prices rose more than twice the industry average in the U.S., and incentives decreased.

Since hiring new CEO Jim Hackett, Ford is cutting costs and shaking up the senior leadership team. Shares of the No. 2 U.S. automaker have barely budged since the beginning of the year, while shares of rival General Motors have risen roughly 30 percent. Shares of upstart Tesla have risen more than 50 percent.

Like rival GM, Ford has been taking steps to refocus its lineup on trucks, SUVs and crossovers. The company is also rushing to invest in new mobility technologies to compete with efforts from other automakers and cash-rich Silicon Valley firms.

Several analysts have expressed caution about the stock in the near term.

Hackett has “a solid long-term vision,” said RBC capital analyst Joseph Spak in a recent note, but he cautioned that Ford is still very early in its turnaround.

“To be frank, aside from some cost-cutting that may be realizable, given the lead times in auto,” Spak said, “most of whatever Mr. Hackett proposes wouldn’t have an impact until 2019 or 2020 at the earliest.”

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Source: Tech CNBC
Ford blows past Wall Street expectations on cost cutting