Ford Motor Co. beat Wall Street expectations with its second quarter earnings report released Thursday, increasing revenue 12% to $45 billion from the same period in 2022; a net income of $1.9 billion, and adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $3.8 billion. 

The company touted its success with commercial customers through its Ford Pro division, which produced 22% revenue growth and EBIT that more than doubled to nearly $2.4 billion, Ford said in its news release. 

Ford CEO Jim Farley compared the Ford Pro success to running a stand-alone company like John Deere. The gasoline-powered division known as Ford Blue generated $2.3 billion. Each of those divisions is expected to generate $8 billion in earnings before interest and taxes, Ford said. 

Yet Ford also revealed that its Model e division devoted to building electric vehicles is losing more money than initially forecast, with $1.8 billion lost in the first half of the year. The company raised its loss forecast for the Model e division to $4.5 billion for the full year before eventually recouping profits on the venture. 

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas praised Ford for being transparent about the real costs of the EV transition, unlike its competitors, he said. No one can afford to lose $40,000 per vehicle and thrive, Jonas said. 

“We like our bet,” Farley said. “We think it’s competitive.” 

He added, “There are plenty of customers. The issue is the price they’re willing to pay. It’s very, very lumpy. It’s not consistent across all (vehicle) segments. … ” 

First quarter earnings reflected a $722 million loss for Model e. Wall Street is used to startups losing money in the beginning, as Tesla and Amazon and Facebook did. 

As has become a new protocol, Ford reported quarterly earnings Thursday by its three key business units instead of by global regions, such as North America, to continue showing investors more clearly the automaker’s financials as the company transitions to all-electric vehicles.