Ford Motor Co. slightly exceeded earnings expectations in the first three months of the year as higher prices offset supply-chain snarls that have limited production.

One day after rolling out an electric version of the F-150 pickup truck, Ford on Wednesday posted adjusted earnings per share of 38 cents, topping the 36 cents analysts predicted on average. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of US$2.3 billion surpassed the US$1.8 billion analysts expected.

“It was mixed,” Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said of the company’s first-quarter performance in a call with reporters. “We continue to have issues with supply of chips, which constrained us and in particular here in North America, it hit us disproportionately on our large vehicles, F-Series, Expedition, Navigator.”

The automaker reiterated its 2022 earnings guidance of US$11.5 billion to US$12.5 billion before interest and taxes. That would represent a gain of 15 per cent to 25 per cent over 2021’s profits.

Ford’s income in the latest quarter was about half the level of a year ago, when it reported first-quarter earnings of US$3.9 billion, or 70 cents a share. The results also compared poorly with rival General Motors Co.’s first-quarter profit of US$2.09 a share, excluding some items. GM kept its full-year outlook unchanged as well and said it expected to improved access to chip supplies in the second half. 

The launch of the battery powered F-150 Lightning is the culmination of a US$50 billion bet by Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley that the 118-year-old automaker can challenge Tesla Inc. and become a player in the electric-vehicle race. But Ford is beset by an intractable chip shortage that slashed F-Series truck sales by 31 per cent in the U.S. in the first quarter. 

Ford shares more than doubled last year, but have investors turned cold on the automaker amid recession concerns and rising commodity costs that are being exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.

Ford’s revenue in the first quarter of US$34.5 billion, exceeding the US$32.2 billion analysts expected. However, wholesale shipments of nearly 970,000 vehicles were down 9 per cent from a year earlier -- the latest evidence that the chip shortage is hurting performance. Ford’s first-quarter revenue was down just 5 per cent on the year -- a reflection of a higher sticker prices.

Since Ford topped US$100 million in market value for the first time on January 13, the company’s shares have fallen 40 per cent. In after-hours trading, Ford stock rose 2.7 per cent to US$15.25 at 4:43 p.m. in New York trading. 

To flip Ford’s switch to electric vehicles, Farley on March 2 cleaved the carmaker into two units – “Model e” to scale up EV offerings and “Ford Blue” to focus on traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. Farley is targeting US$3 billion in cost cuts in the legacy operations building gas-fired vehicles and that could include job cuts. Farley has said the traditional car-making operations will be the “profit and cash engine” that will finance Ford electric ambitions.

Farley also last month boosted Ford’s spending on EVs by US$20 billion to a total of US$50 billion, with a plan to build 2 million EVs a year by 2026 -- a giant leap from the more than 27,000 battery-powered Mustang Mach-E SUVs it sold last year.

Ford reported North American earnings before interest and taxes of US$1.59 billion, down from US$2.95 billion a year earlier. In the first three months of the year, Ford’s U.S. vehicle sales fell 17 per cent, while average prices car buyers paid for its models rose 3.1 per cent to US$49,343, amid continued inventory shortages, according to auto researcher Edmunds.com.

In Europe, Ford posted a US$207 million profit before interest and taxes in the first quarter, down from earnings of US$341 million last year before interest and taxes. 

In China, Ford lost US$53 million before interest and taxes in the first three months of the year, worse than a US$15 million loss on that basis in the first quarter of 2021. Ford’s vehicle sales fell 18.8 per cent in China in the first quarter, constrained by the chip shortage and pandemic-related restrictions.