Investors could benefit from buying Ford Motor shares going forward, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Adam Jonas, who is widely followed on Wall Street, upgraded the automaker to overweight from equal weight, reiterating his price target of $14 per share. That target implies upside of 13.2% from Tuesday’s close of $12.36. Ford shares rose 1% in the premarket. Ford shares have been under pressure recently, losing 18.5% over the past month, after the company warned in late September of an extra $1 billion in supply chain costs for the third quarter. Ford also said that supply issues have led to shortages affecting 40,000 to 45,000 vehicles . “3Q profits warning coupled with macro concerns have resulted in a decline in buy-side expectations and sharp pull-back in shares. Ford shares trade at approximately 8x our normalized EPS forecast of $1.50,” Jonas wrote. However, he also said that this pullback could be a buying opportunity for investors. “Potentially favorable idiosyncratic development regarding the company’s restructuring (creation of Ford Blue and Ford Model e) has the potential to better align the growth and capex needs of the EV business with a more favorable cost of capital,” Jonas said, adding that the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act could boost Ford’s U.S. electric vehicle business. Elsewhere in the auto space, Jonas lowered his price target on General Motors to $30 per share from $42 and reiterated his equal weight rating on the stock. The new target is 17.3% above Tuesday’s close of $35.80. The analyst noted that, while GM hasn’t issued a similar warning as Ford, the latter’s move “is likely to be a bellwether event for the industry.” — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
