Ford Doubles Down on Americana With Baseball Sponsorship: Ford Stock (NYSE:F) Jumps

Legacy automaker Ford (F) is a deeply American brand. It may therefore be the most on-brand thing Ford could do to become an official sponsor of Major League Baseball. It took the slot formerly held by General Motors (GM), its crosstown rival. Ford investors were very much on board with this perfect pivot, giving Ford shares a nearly 3% boost in share prices in Monday afternoon’s trading.

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Ford managed to seize the title from General Motors after two full decades’ worth of involvement on GM’s part. Starting Opening Day this year, Ford will be the new exclusive automotive partner of Major League Baseball. Now, Ford not only has the Major League Baseball rights, but also a significant presence in Minor League Baseball, and even down to Little League International, giving it access to virtually every stage of baseball.

Ford even managed to land a presenting role for the Major League Baseball July Fourth initiative. With this year being the 250th anniversary of the United States’ foundation, it will be a particularly special July Fourth moment by any reckoning. Ford is even rolling out a special giveaway in connection to its new status: the “Drive Them Home Sweepstakes.”

Layoffs Delayed

A while back, word emerged that BlueOval SK—the joint venture battery initiative between Ford and SK On—was set to launch layoffs at the Kentucky plant. And the layoff of around 1,500 workers back during Valentine’s Day kicked off in earnest. But a second layoff, featuring around 10% of the remaining workers, is now set to start next week, on March 31.

The remaining workers are mainly “…controls manufacturing process engineers and production supervisions,” reports noted. SK On cited “ongoing regulatory approval processes” as the reason why some of the job cuts are taking longer to go through than some expected. SK On also laid off workers in Georgia, with those cuts set to hit after another couple months. Those workers will receive pay and benefits for the next 60 days.

Is Ford Stock a Good Buy Right Now?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on F stock based on three Buys, 11 Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 12.39% rally in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $13.95 per share implies 18.32% upside potential.

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