Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Morgan Stanley (MS) Sees Ford (F) (GM) (TM) (HMC) Production Falling

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) said it has reduced its 2011 vehicle production forecast by about 10 percent from last year, as auto makers like Ford (NYSE:F), General Motors (NYSE:GM), Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Honda (NYSE:HMC), among others, will definitely be negatively affected by the disasters in Japan.

The bank said the temporary shutdowns and slowdowns will probably affect the results of the second and third quarters.

Auto production in the U.S. is estimated to fall from 14 million units in prior projections to 12.4 million vehicles for the year. That is instead of the former expected growth of about 12 percent for the industry in America.

Specific estimates for individual automakers haven't been made yet, as the impact from the disaster is still largely unknown that specifically on each company.

The largest effect will probably be margins and earnings pressure, along with one-time charges.

Ford was trading at $14.60, down $0.02, or 0.17 percent, as of 12:00 PM EDT. General Motors was at $29.30, falling $0.67, or 2.24 percent. Toyota was trading at $76.03, dropping $1.22, or 1.58 percent. Honda was at $35.66, losing $0.02, or 0.06 percent.

No comments: