What happened
Shares of Ford Motor Company (F 1.74%) are rising on Monday morning, up 5.7% as of 11 a.m. EDT, amid a broad-based market rally following signs that social-distancing measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 might be working.
So what
Ford's stock has been slipping all year, but it has been hit hard since the likely impact of the coronavirus pandemic started to become clear in February. Even with today's rally, it's still down by more than 50% since Jan. 1.
Given that drop, it's no surprise that investors looking for value-priced bargains have been eyeing the Blue Oval's shares with interest. While Ford has suspended its dividend for the time being, it has plenty of cash to weather the crisis, and a slew of new products on the way once the pandemic fades. A not-too-bad sales report for the first quarter, released last week, hasn't hurt the case for the stock.
Ford, with help from General Electric, is rushing to mass-produce ventilators for hospitals treating COVID-19 patients. Image source: Ford Motor.
Meanwhile, with its auto factories shut down, Ford has been scrambling to manufacture respirators, ventilators, and protective gear to aid overloaded hospitals and first responders around the country -- efforts that are winning the company a lot of goodwill.
Now what
Ford's factories in the U.S., Europe, and several other parts of the world will be shut down at least until the beginning of May. But investors won't have to wait that long for an update: The automaker will release its first-quarter earnings results after the market closes on April 28.
