Strong earnings, but cloudy outlook

Article Excerpt

FORD MOTOR CO. $13 (New York symbol F; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 3.4 billion; Market cap: $44.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; No dividends paid since June 2006; WSSF Rating: Speculative) earned $2.6 billion in the three months ended June 30, 2010. That’s up 14.9% from $2.3 billion a year earlier. However, earnings per share fell 11.6%, to $0.61 from $0.69, on more shares outstanding. Revenue rose 16.8%, to $31.3 billion from $26.8 billion. The company sold 1.4 million cars and trucks during the quarter, up 18.8% from 1.2 million a year earlier. However, high U.S. unemployment could slow Ford’s sales in the second half of 2010. Ford is a hold. hold…