Shares of traditional automaker Ford continued to soar on Tuesday due to strong demand for its upcoming electric pickups.
Recently, according to foreign media reports, In 2021, Ford's stock price rose by about 140%, thus beating Tesla, GM and a large number of electric vehicle start-ups, becoming the highest-gained car stock last year. In October 2020, Jim Farley began serving as CEO of Ford, and under his leadership the established car company began to explore new directions, a move that was appreciated by investors. Farley has previously promised that the company will become more open and direct when it comes to investors. In addition, he has launched a "Ford+" restructuring plan to devote more resources to electric vehicle manufacturing, such as the upcoming F-150 Lightning pickup truck.
Ford shares rose 11.7 percent on Tuesday after the company said it planned to nearly double the annual capacity of its upcoming electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck to 150,000 units by mid-2023.
This is the second time the company has doubled its production targets for the F-150, which will be released in the spring (initially producing about 40,000 units).
The stock's recent rally is a testament to investors' huge interest in electric vehicles: Ford said consumer demand for its F-150 was higher than expected and plans to start taking actual orders for pickup trucks on Thursday.
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On December 10 last year, Ford saw its biggest one-day gain when Farley confirmed on Twitter that it would triple production of The Muddy Mach-E electric vehicles in North America and Europe to more than 200,000 vehicles a year in 2030. The stock surged 9.6 percent on the day to $21.45 a share, a 20-year high.
"Over the next two years, Ford aims to become the second-largest electric vehicle manufacturer in North America and then challenge the number one position," the company's press release said.
Ford was the auto industry's top stock last year, up about 140 percent, beating bigger rivals General Motors and electric car maker Tesla, which rose 41 percent and 50 percent, respectively.
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said 2021 was "truly a breakthrough year for Ford" and "the most important year for the company's strategy since the financial crisis."
Ford's market capitalization of about $97 billion still lags far behind established rivals such as Toyota ($320 billion) and electric car pioneer Tesla ($1.1 trillion). After Ford's stock soared on Tuesday, the company's valuation surpassed that of traditional auto rival General Motors ($95 billion) and electric vehicle startup Rivian ($91 billion).
Ford's current market capitalization is $83 billion, and it still has a long way to go if it wants to catch up with some other established car companies, or electric vehicle startups like Rivian, in terms of market capitalization.