Ford shares jumped as much as 6.7% on Friday morning to a four-year high of $17.77, nearly doubling from a 52-week low of $9.42 set in June 2025.
The US automaker, which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in January 1956 has a market cap of over $69.4 billion.
Since its IPO, Ford has undergone five regular stock splits and three share adjustments.
One original share purchased in 1956 would have multiplied into approximately 31 shares today, placing the split-adjusted IPO price at roughly $2.09.
After trading as high as $18.79 at the beginning of 2022, the stock sharply declined to a range of $10–$15 in the following months.
The stock spent most of 2025 trading in the $10–$13 range before staging a sharp rally through May 2026.
Shares closed at $16.65 on Thursday, before hitting the $17.77 intraday high on Friday — representing a gain of over 44% from its early-May levels.
At $17.77, Ford is trading at its highest level since January 2022. The current price also surpasses the late-2021 high of $16.76.
Between 2009 and 2020, Ford never traded above $10 on an annual-high basis, peaking at $9.99 in 2014.
It then fell back below $14 for the next three years, with annual highs of $13.34 in 2023, $13.49 in 2024, and $10.80 in 2025.
May 2026 marks only the second month since mid-2009 in which Ford has traded above $17, following January 2022.
USMCA To Favor US Automakers
The rally comes as the Trump administration unveiled a proposal to significantly tighten automotive sourcing requirements under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The proposal, presented during US-Mexico negotiations in Mexico City this week, would for the first time require that half of a vehicle’s components and materials originate from US suppliers to qualify for preferential tariff treatment.
Whether that US-specific mandate would replace or stack on top of the existing 75% North American content threshold remains unclear, according to the report.
Under the current USMCA, which replaced NAFTA in 2020, there is no minimum US-specific content requirement.
Automakers can meet the 75% threshold through any combination of parts and materials sourced from the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The existing agreement also requires that 40% of core parts value for passenger cars and 45% for pickup trucks be produced in high-wage jurisdictions, effectively the US or Canada.
The new proposal has no provision for requiring content from Canada, which is not represented at the current round of talks.
The relation between the two countries is strained by different approaches to trade policies, namely when it comes to China — after Canada signed a trade deal allowing 49,000 Chinese EVs to enter the country annually, for a lowered tariff of 6.1%.
If accepted, the US-specific content mandate would likely require manufacturers to rethink sourcing strategies and increase investment in American parts production.
Ford, which assembles its top-selling F-Series lineup and several other models domestically, stands to benefit from rules that reward a heavier US manufacturing footprint.
Canadian Pullback on Tariffs
The proposed USMCA changes come as US automakers have been scaling back Canadian operations amid the reciprocal 25% tariffs on autos.
General Motors cut a shift at its Oshawa Assembly plant, eliminating around 500 jobs, with output redirected to Fort Wayne, Indiana.
It also ended BrightDrop EV van production at its CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, costing roughly 1,200 jobs. Stellantis moved planned Jeep output to Illinois and left its Brampton, Ontario factory idle.
Ford‘s Oakville, Ontario assembly plant has been closed for retooling since 2024 after the company scrapped its original plan to produce EVs at the facility.
Last month, the Canadian federal government announced a C$464.5 million grant to help Ford retool Oakville for Super Duty truck production, with the plant expected to employ 1,800 workers and produce up to 100,000 trucks annually when it reopens later this year.
Ontario’s auto plant output fell from 2.3 million vehicles in 2016 to 1.2 million in 2025, according to the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing.
China Positioning
Jim Farley has been treading carefully, courting Chinese automakers as potential partners while navigating increasingly shaky trade relations between North America and China.
Just days after telling Fox News that Chinese EVs should be kept “out of our country,” Farley told reporters in April that Ford values its Chinese partners and would “continue to expand these partnerships.”
Ford‘s chief has told Trump administration officials that if Chinese carmakers want to build vehicles in America, they should be required to form joint ventures where US automakers hold controlling stakes.
Ford has reportedly been in discussions with Geely about sharing manufacturing capacity in Europe, with its Valencia, Spain plant identified as the most likely option.
BYD has also been mentioned as a potential battery supplier for hybrid vehicles outside the US — talks that drew public criticism from White House trade adviser Peter Navarro earlier this year.
Farley has previously described trips to China as “epiphanies” and revealed he personally drove Xiaomi’s SU7 sedan for six months, saying he “didn’t want to give it up.”
EV Business
The stock rally caps a turbulent period for Ford‘s electric vehicle business.
In December, the automaker announced approximately $19.5 billion in charges tied to the rationalization of its EV manufacturing capacity and product roadmap.
The EV unit ‘Model e’ recorded $4.8 billion in losses for the full year of 2025, with Chief Financial Officer Sherry House forecasting an additional $4 to $5 billion in losses in 2026. The company does not expect Model e to turn profitable until 2029.
In April, the automaker restructured its EV operations again, merging its Electric Vehicle, Digital and Design team with its global Industrial System.
Doug Field, the former Tesla and Apple executive who led Ford‘s shift to electrified and software-defined vehicles, left the company as part of the changes.
UBS called the restructuring a move that “makes sense,” reiterating a Buy rating and citing a credible path to earnings per share above $2 by 2027.
Ford‘s first-quarter 2026 results reflected an improved trajectory.
The company posted revenue of $43.3 billion, net income of $2.5 billion, and adjusted EBIT of $3.5 billion — boosted by a $1.3 billion one-time benefit following the US Supreme Court’s invalidation of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Ford raised its full-year adjusted EBIT guidance to $8.5 billion to $10.5 billion.
