Ford Motor Co. reported an unexpected $3.26 billion first quarter net profit but the auto builder said a worsening global computer chip shortage could reduce its production output by 50% for the current quarter, TechExplore said Thursday.
"There are more whitewater moments ahead for us that we have to navigate. The semiconductor shortage and the impact to production will get worse before it gets better," CNBC quoted Ford chief executive officer Jim Farley as saying during the company's first quarter earnings call.
The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker said it anticipates the global shortage of semiconductors to have around a $2.5 billion effect on the fiscal year.
The components issue affected around 17%, or 200,000 units, in the first quarter, Farley said. The shortage could extend into the second half this year, but Farley said the company is in a position to weather the pain.
Almost all car manufacturers are having difficulty with the chip shortage, caused by semiconductor companies switching their assembly lines to more profitable consumer-electronics processors when car facilities shut down because of the pandemic.
Shares of Ford were down around 3% during extended trading. The company's market valuation is more than $48 billion. Excluding non-recurring items, Ford made 89 cents a share between January and March beating analysts' estimates of 22 cents a share.
The company's quarterly revenue hit $36.23 billion, exceeding Wall Street's projection of $36.13 billion, according to FactSet.
Ford expects to lose around 1.1 million units of production this year because of the chip shortage, Ford chief financial officer John Lawler said.
Ford also said it has manufactured about 22,000 vehicles without some computers because of the shortage, and it will retrofit them when chips become available.
