Ford CEO Jim Farley told Jim Cramer that the F-150 Lightning’s abilities as a source of backup power for homes and job sites have been a real “eye-opener” for the automaker. Farley was responding to an inquiry from the Club after Jefferies earlier this week downgraded generator mainstay Generac on the thought that electric vehicles with these types of capabilities could disrupt the backup power industry. Farley said he and Ford (F) had thought this EV power perk was for commercial customers only but found that people want to have their very own power plants. After Hurricane Ian, Ford saw a 200% increase in people powering their homes with their F-150 Lightning vehicles. Going forward, Ford plans to put this customer-favorite Pro Power Onboard feature in most of their EVs. “I believe you have a winner in Ford,” Jim said during Thursday’s “Morning Meeting” for Investing Club members. If you believe there won’t be a huge economic slowdown, this is an inexpensive stock at a 7.8x forward multiple, Jim argued. He told new Club members that current levels would be a good place to buy Ford. Bottom line We’re believers in Ford because we see the company’s push to invest and innovate in electric vehicles as a long-term growth vector for the company. It’s worth noting that Tesla (TSLA) doesn’t offer this backup power feature in its EVs. The Lightning has catapulted Ford to the No. 2 EV seller in the U.S., behind the Elon Musk automaker. Ford has been struggling, down roughly 32% year-to-date compared to the S & P 500’s more than 14% decline. However, we’ve stuck with Ford because the stock is cheap on a valuation basis. It also generates tons of cash, supporting an annual 4.25% dividend yield and share buybacks. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long F. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Electric Ford F-150 Lightning
Andrew Evers / CNBC
Ford CEO Jim Farley told Jim Cramer that the F-150 Lightning’s abilities as a source of backup power for homes and job sites have been a real “eye-opener” for the automaker. Farley was responding to an inquiry from the Club after Jefferies earlier this week downgraded generator mainstay Generac on the thought that electric vehicles with these types of capabilities could disrupt the backup power industry.
