Before markets open on Tuesday morning, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is scheduled to release third-quarter results. The consensus estimates for the automaker call for earnings per share (EPS) of $0.47 on revenues of $35.07 billion. In the third quarter of 2014, the company posted EPS of $0.24 on revenues of $32.8 billion.

Following on a strong report from General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) last week, the overall outlook for Ford is very positive. The company appears to have untracked sales of its new aluminum-bodied F-150, posting a year-over-year sales increase of 16.4% in September. Cumulatively sales of the new pickups are comparatively flat, up just 1.3% in the first nine months of 2015, but sales were going down last year at this time and are rising this year.

Including the Transit and Transit Connect vans, truck sales were up more than 23% in September and up 6.5% year over year in the first nine months of this year.

Ford’s first-quarter 2015 EPS came in 11.5% below the consensus estimate, and second-quarter earnings beat estimates by 27%. The most recent EPS estimate is the same as it was three months ago.

Recent analyst calls include the following:

• Susquehanna raised its price target from $16 to $17 and maintained a Neutral rating.
• JPMorgan raised its price target from $19 to $20 and maintained an Overweight rating.
• Buckingham upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy and raised its price target from $15 to $18.
• Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating and raised its price target from $19 to $20.

At the noon hour on Monday, Ford shares traded down about 0.2% at $15.64 in a 52-week range of $10.44to $16.74. The consensus price target on the stock is $17.88, and the high price target is $23.00.

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