Ford Stock Rallies On Piper Sandler Upgrade, Plans To Launch Autonomous Driving On $30,000 EV

Piper Sandler upgraded Ford to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ with a price target of $16, up from $11.

• Sandler’s new price target represents a potential upside of 16% from the stock’s closing price on Wednesday.
• The company's next generation EV platform "aligns with the modern manufacturing philosophy" of Tesla and the Chinese car makers, the analyst said. 
• The company also unveiled plans to introduce autonomous driving on lower-cost EVs at CES tech conference this week.

Shares of Ford Motor Co (F) traded 5% higher on Thursday after Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ with a price target of $16, up from $11.  

The upgrade comes on the heels of the company announcing its plans to introduce "eyes-off driving technology" on an upcoming $30,000 all-electric vehicle in 2028.

The revised price target represents a potential upside of 16% from the stock’s closing price on Wednesday.

The firm views Ford's electric vehicle "capitulation" as a "welcome development." The company's next generation EV platform "aligns with the modern manufacturing philosophy" of Tesla and the Chinese car makers, the analyst said, as per TheFly.

Piper sees Ford's strategic realignment boosting its performance in 2026 and 2027.

Ford’s New EV Strategy

Dearborn-based automaker Ford said in December that it expects to incur $19.5 billion in EV-related charges as it killed plans for several large EV models to stem losses. While a majority of the charges would be incurred in the fourth quarter of 2025, the remaining will be incurred in 2026 and 2027, the company said.

“Ford no longer plans to produce select larger electric vehicles where the business case has eroded due to lower-than-expected demand, high costs and regulatory changes,” the company then said. Instead, Ford is now looking at launching more affordable EVs on its Universal Electric Platform.

Ford’s Universal EV platform is a new platform aimed at enabling a family of affordable electric vehicles. The first vehicle from the platform will be a midsize four-door electric pickup with a targeted starting price of about $30,000, slated for delivery in 2027. The company also unveiled plans to introduce autonomous driving on lower-cost EVs at CES tech conference this week.

Autonomy Push

Earlier on Thursday, Ford’s Doug Field wrote in an article that meaningful innovations often end up reserved for higher-end vehicles priced at $70,000 or $100,000. “Autonomy shouldn’t be a premium feature,” Field wrote.

He said that Ford has now found a way to make autonomy more affordable using its own software and in-house hardware, which will be introduced on its new and affordable Universal Electric Vehicle platform in 2027.

Field, chief EV, digital, and design officer at Ford, added that the technology will enable “eyes-off driving” in 2028.

“Because we own the technology behind our driver assistance systems, we can deliver significantly more capability at a 30% lower cost than if we bought it from outside suppliers, which makes advanced driver assistance scalable,” Field wrote.

The automaker also unveiled the new Ford AI Assistant at CES 2026, capable of determining the capabilities of the Ford vehicle and recommending appropriate decisions. For instance, customers can snap a picture of bags of mulch and ask the assistant how many will fit into the truck bed, Field said. The rollout of the assistant will begin in early 2026 on the Ford and Lincoln app, the company said.

How Did Stocktwits Users React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around F stock rose from ‘bearish’ to ‘neutral’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume rose from ‘normal’ to ‘high’ levels.

A Stocktwits user expressed hopes for the stock rallying up to $20.

Another, however, warned caution, highlighting the company’s high number of recalls.

F stock has gained 48% over the past 12 months.

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