• Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Home
  • Daily Diary
  • Asset Class
    • U.S. Equity
    • Fixed Income
    • Global Equity
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
  • Sector
    • Basic Materials
    • Consumer Discretionary
    • Consumer Staples
    • Energy
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Industrials
    • Real Estate
    • Technology
    • Telecom Services
    • Transportation
    • Utilities
  • Latest
    • Articles
    • Video
    • Columnist Conversations
    • Best Ideas
    • Stock of the Day
  • Street Notes
  • Authors
    • Bruce Kamich
    • Doug Kass
    • Jim "Rev Shark" DePorre
    • Helene Meisler
    • Jonathan Heller
    • - See All -
  • Options
  • RMPIA
  • Switch Product
    • Action Alerts PLUS
    • Quant Ratings
    • Real Money
    • Real Money Pro
    • Retirement
    • Stocks Under $10
    • TheStreet
    • Top Stocks
    • Trifecta Stocks
  1. Home
  2. / Investing
  3. / Consumer Discretionary

What Happened to Ford's Ex-CEO Is a Harsh Reminder the Future for Cars Is Uncertain

Meanwhile, Tesla continues to dominate discussions in the auto industry.
By BRIAN SOZZI May 22, 2017 Updated May 22, 2017 | 08:44 AM EDT
Stocks quotes in this article: MCD, SBUX, F, UA, NKE, ADDYY, GIS, SCS, TSLA, GM, DLTR, DG

Automaker execs worldwide will likely be sending a few gossipy emails around on Monday, but what they should be doing is sending honest reminders to all of their teams.

Ford (F)  said Monday that it ousted CEO Mark Fields, and will replace the company lifer with former Steelcase (SCS) CEO and turnaround specialist Jim Hackett. Anyone who has casually watched the developments at Ford over the past few months could have seen this one coming a mile away. First, Ford issued a surprising profit warning back in March thanks to slowing auto sales and investments in Field's pet mobility projects. Since then, auto industry sales trends have arguably worsened, which had many wondering if Ford's outlook was truly kitchen sink stuff.

Then in April, Tesla (TSLA) saw its market cap blow past Ford's. That was no doubt a slap in the face to a proud company such as Ford -- after all, it was one of the pioneers of the automobile industry. To top it off, Ford announced a good number of job cuts last week, likely as the board wanted to goose a stock price that been stuck in neutral under Field's leadership. Since Fields took over on July 1, 2014, shares of Ford have plunged 30%. Although Ford's results have been OK during that span, the reality is that other automakers have better sold their stories to Wall Street and have been rewarded accordingly.

Fields' firing (the word is that he is "retiring") deserves to send momentary shock waves throughout the auto industry, because it sheds light on the uncertain outlook for automakers. On paper, Fields deserves credit for trying to position Ford for a future of electric bikes and smart traffic lights (he also deserves credit for delivering the new Ford GT seen above -- Fields received one of the first GTs off the line, along with chairman Bill Ford Jr.). In fact, he wrote about it in great detail here via a vision for the future of cities.

But while Fields plowed money in this future vision, he neglected the present-day business. Ford has missed key opportunities in electric cars and mid-size SUVs. It could also be argued that General Motors (GM) has done a far better job in pivoting to capture the ride-sharing shift via investments in Lyft and the creation of Maven.

Like never before, automakers are being pulled in so many different directions because how people will get around town is completely up in the air. There isn't one definitive answer -- electric cars won't be owned by everyone, but at the same time not everyone wants to use Uber or Lyft to get to work. Good luck to Ford's incoming CEO Hackett; one of his first jobs should be how to craft a message to Wall Street that Ford will focus on its future but ramp up its present, too.    

Read This Or Lose Out

About that Trump budget: The Trump White House will release a budget on Tuesday that includes $274 billion in cuts over 10 years to means-tested anti-poverty programs, reports Bloomberg. Some of the biggest cuts will come to food stamps. Trump is proposing to slash $193 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (aka SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, over the next decade. The cuts would amount to a 25% reduction.

It will be interesting to see how dollar stores Dollar Tree (DLTR) and Dollar General (DG) trade on this news. When more than 500,000 people were booted from food stamps in 2016, dollar stores saw a noticeable sales pullback. 

Dude: Granted, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is like 110 years old (he's 79 in fact), but he shouldn't be napping while his boss is giving a major speech in front of a global audience. Ross is no stranger to appearing on TV, so he should know full well the cameras are always watching. 

Your tax dollars hard at work. 

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross taking a nap during President Trump's speech. pic.twitter.com/X8syV6c8BW

— Yashar (@yashar) May 21, 2017

Obesity in America is still an issue: Blame McDonald's (MCD) Big Macs. Blame 500-calorie frozen Starbucks (SBUX) drinks. Whatever the case, the U.S. continues to grapple with an obesity issue. The obesity rate for American adults (aged 15 and over) just weighed in at 38.2%, according to new data from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. By far, the U.S. is the fattest country in the world. 

So many explanations for this, but one is the persistence of food deserts -- this is where people in urban areas don't have access to affordable fresh fruit and vegetables. In turn, they are forced to rely on fast food or other sugary items in supermarkets for their daily caloric intake. 

New data reveals...

The U.S. is still obese. pic.twitter.com/ue9nvqW7hY

— Brian Sozzi (@BrianSozzi) May 21, 2017

Beast of a truck: TheStreet got the chance to drive around town for a few days in Ford's (F) new Raptor pickup truck. In short, this thing was a beast. Full review here.

Adidas is dominating: Want a good example why Under Armour (UA) is struggling to make big-time headway into footwear? Look no further than the killer styles being sold right now by Nike (NKE) and Adidas (ADDYY) , which TheStreet points out here.

Now this is product innovation: Have you seen the products below in stores yet? General Mills (GIS) and Tootsie Roll dropping new products that should have been created 10 years ago...

Wake me up b4 you go-go & feed me @girlscouts #cookies in a bowl-bowl
��
��
��
��#thinmints pic.twitter.com/k3zl3jw6d5

— Eric Huang (@junkfoodguy) May 20, 2017

Left or right, JFG Nation? #candy
��
��
��
��#tootsieroll #fruitchews pic.twitter.com/UeGmwWbnvt

— Eric Huang (@junkfoodguy) May 20, 2017

Jim Cramer and the AAP team hold a position in Starbucks for their Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells SBUX? Learn more now.

Get an email alert each time I write an article for Real Money. Click the "+Follow" next to my byline to this article.

Employees of TheStreet are restricted from trading individual securities.

TAGS: Investing | U.S. Equity | Consumer Discretionary | Consumer Staples | Markets | Consumer | Economy | E-Commerce | Stocks

More from Consumer Discretionary

Penn National: Should Investors Put Their Chips Down?

Bruce Kamich
Jun 28, 2022 12:13 PM EDT

Let's check out the charts and indicators on this operator of casinos and racetracks.

I'm Warming Up to Carnival, but Not Ready to Climb Aboard Yet

Jonathan Heller
Jun 27, 2022 10:00 AM EDT

The stock price of a cruise line operator is becoming more reasonable, but its heavy debt load remains a huge concern.

There's No Clear Sailing Ahead for Carnival: Here's How to Play It

Stephen Guilfoyle
Jun 24, 2022 11:32 AM EDT

CCL did lose a lot of money, much more than anticipated, but there are positives.

Bearish Bets: 3 Well-Known Stocks You Should Consider Shorting This Week

Bob Lang
Jun 19, 2022 10:30 AM EDT

These recently downgraded names are displaying both quantitative and technical deterioration.

Beyond Meat Gives Investors Something to Chew On

Bruce Kamich
Jun 15, 2022 1:50 PM EDT

This veggie name is rallying sharply after a summer promotion announcement, but here's my beef with the charts.

Real Money's message boards are strictly for the open exchange of investment ideas among registered users. Any discussions or subjects off that topic or that do not promote this goal will be removed at the discretion of the site's moderators. Abusive, insensitive or threatening comments will not be tolerated and will be deleted. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have questions, please contact us here.

Email

CANCEL
SUBMIT

Email sent

Thank you, your email to has been sent successfully.

DONE

Oops!

We're sorry. There was a problem trying to send your email to .
Please contact customer support to let us know.

DONE

Please Join or Log In to Email Our Authors.

Email Real Money's Wall Street Pros for further analysis and insight

Already a Subscriber? Login

Columnist Conversation

  • 07:34 AM EDT PAUL PRICE

    A $525,000 Vote of Confidence on Macerich (MAC)

  • 09:49 AM EDT JAMES "REV SHARK" DEPORRE

    This Weekend on Real Money

    Stop Wishing, Hoping, and Praying and Take Control...
  • 07:59 PM EDT PAUL PRICE

    Very Good Quarterly Numbers From Bassett Furniture (BSET)

    Bassett Furniture blew right through analysts es...
  • See More

COLUMNIST TWEETS

  • A Twitter List by realmoney
About Privacy Terms of Use

© 1996-2022 TheStreet, Inc., 225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10281

Need Help? Contact Customer Service

Except as otherwise indicated, quotes are delayed. Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes for all exchanges. Market Data & Company fundamental data provided by FactSet. Earnings and ratings provided by Zacks. Mutual fund data provided by Valueline. ETF data provided by Lipper. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions Group.

TheStreet Ratings updates stock ratings daily. However, if no rating change occurs, the data on this page does not update. The data does update after 90 days if no rating change occurs within that time period.

FactSet calculates the Market Cap for the basic symbol to include common shares only. Year-to-date mutual fund returns are calculated on a monthly basis by Value Line and posted mid-month.

Compare Brokers

Please Join or Log In to manage and receive alerts.

Follow Real Money's Wall Street Pros to receive real-time investing alerts

Already a Subscriber? Login