Stock Market Today, May 13: Ford Jumps After Launching Ford Energy Battery Storage Subsidiary

Ford (F +13.22%) stock closed Wednesday at $13.57, up 13.18%. Ford moved higher after launching its new Ford Energy battery-storage subsidiary and a bullish Morgan Stanley note highlighted profit and partnership potential that investors are now watching closely.
Trading volume reached 207.8 million shares, coming in about 265% above its three-month average of 57 million shares. Ford IPO’d in 1972 and has grown 526% since going public.

How the markets moved today

The S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.58%) added 0.59% to finish Wednesday at 7,445, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC +1.20%) gained 1.20% to close at 26,402. Among auto manufacturers, industry peers General Motors (GM 0.82%) closed at $75.80 (-0.84%) and Stellantis (STLA +2.70%) finished at $7.60 (+2.70%) as investors weighed divergent EV strategies. Ford stock was today’s best performer in the S&P 500.

What this means for investors

Ford’s move today stemmed from an announcement the company made earlier this week. Today’s slightly delayed reaction came after Morgan Stanley (MS +1.10%) analyst Andrew Percoco highlighted Ford’s just-introduced subsidiary, Ford Energy.

Ford Energy will focus on battery storage systems and capitalize on the company’s existing relationship with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), the world’s largest maker of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.

The analyst believes Ford will realize a new profit stream beyond vehicles from the business as it enters into agreements to supply energy storage systems to substantial commercial clients, potentially including big tech hyperscalers. That would certainly gain attention from investors and potentially push Ford stock higher.