Shares of Ford Motor,surprisingly, have become somewhat controversial on Wall Street headed into 2022. Some analysts are taking their chips off the table, while others are doubling down.
On Thursday, Barclays analyst Brian Johnson increased his price target for Ford stock (ticker: F) to $23 from $18 and kept his Buy rating. Johnson believes Ford shares will keep working in 2022 amid low dealer inventories and high vehicle pricing.
Ford stock has had a great 2021 so far. Shares have soared about 131% year to date.
It’s the second price target bump for Ford stock in the past couple of days. On Wednesday, Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan increased his price target to $25 from $19 a share.
Not everyone is increasingly bullish on the auto maker, though. On Monday, Daiwa analyst Jairam Nathan downgraded the stock to Sell from Hold. Although he did take his price target to $19 from $16 a share.
After all the recent analyst adjustments, Ford price targets now range from $12 to $25 a share. The $13 spread is about 65% of the current share price. The average bull-bear spread for stocks in the Dow is about 48%.
Three months ago, target prices for Ford stock ranged from about $11 to $18 a share; the $7 spread was about 50% of the current stock price. This all illustrates that Ford stock is getting a little more controversial on Wall Street.
Even though Wall Street can’t seem to agree on Ford,Tesla (TSLA) remains the king of car-stock controversy. The bull-bear spread for Tesla stock coming from large brokerage firms is about $1,330, or almost 140% of the current stock price.
One interpretation of increasing disagreement over Ford stock’s value is that some analysts aren’t sure Ford’s 2021 gains are justified. Ford stock has benefited from improving auto demand and higher vehicle pricing. That part of Ford’s gains likely doesn’t vex analysts. But Ford shares have also gained because of improving electric vehicle sales. The company has sold about 25,000 all-electric Mustang Mach E vehicles so far this year. Ford EV momentum might be harder for analysts to reward.
In 2022, Ford is launching an all-electric F-150. How sales of that vehicle ramp will go a long way in determining how Ford stock performs this coming year. Rising EV sales will be a key factor for Ford investors in 2022—just like rising EV sales are a key factor for Tesla investors every year.
About 54% of analysts covering Ford stock rate share Buy. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P is about 55%. About 48% of analysts covering Tesla stock rate shares Buy.