Ford Motor NYSE:F rose 2.51% and General Motors NYSE:GM 3.16% intraday after Jefferies upgraded both to Buy from Hold, raising its Ford target to $17.50 from $14.50 and its GM target to $99 from $90. Jefferies pointed to improving U.S. market conditions, better capital allocation and easing legacy costs at both companies.
The two calls rest on different evidence. GM's follows a second-quarter report that Jefferies said reinforced confidence in 2027 profitability and cash generation, with the firm now expecting more than $10 billion in annual free cash flow from that year on new truck launches, efficiency gains and digital services. It raised its 2026-2028 earnings estimates by around 6% and called the valuation attractive at roughly 5x expected 2027 earnings.
For Ford, Jefferies treats the second quarter as a margin trough with production normalizing after supply disruptions, and lifted its 2026 adjusted EBIT estimate to $10.3 billion, near the top of Ford's guided range. It expects second-quarter adjusted EBIT of about $2.5 billion on a 5.4% margin despite an estimated 10% drop in wholesale volumes.