Ford’s first quarterly sales rise in China for the first time in 3 years

American multinational automaker Ford Motor Co. (F.N) announced on Thursday that its vehicle sales increased by 3% from April to June in mainland China. It would be the first time that the company’s first quarterly sales rose in the world’s biggest auto market in nearly three years.

A total of 158,589 vehicles were sold during the second quarter while sales increased by 78.7% compared to the first quarter of 2020.

Ford’s partners for automotive production in China were Chongqing Changan Automobile Co Ltd (000625.SZ) and Jiangling Motors Corp Ltd (JMC) (000550.SZ).

“We raise our 2020 Ford EPS forecast to ($0.90) vs. our prior forecast of ($1.30), while for 2021 and 2022, our EPS rises to positive $0.75 and $1.25 vs. our prior forecast of $0.30 and $0.80 respectively. On our revised price target of $8, Ford trades at just over 10x our 2021E EPS. Currently, the stock trades at just over 9x our revised 2021 EPS forecast,” Morgan Stanley’s Equity Analyst Adam Jonas said in an interview.

“We raise our 3Q N. American Ford volume forecast to negative 12% Y/Y vs. down 15% previously. Our 4Q volume is revised to down 3% vs. down 5% previously. This slight upward adjustment reflects stronger than expected US SAAR, a rebound in used vehicle prices, and more supportive auto credit vs. our prior forecasts,” he added.

Ford’s rival General Motors (GM.N) announced that its car sales declined by 5.3% to 713,600 units in China during the first quarter.