Ford stock notches its best month since the Great Recession — and keeps rising

DETROIT — Ford Motor’s stock on Monday added to its best month since the Great Recession in 2009, signaling a significant swing for the Detroit automaker this year.

Shares closed Monday at $15.34, up 4.4%. The gains added to the stock increasing by 31.9% in July. It was the best monthly percentage gain for Ford shares since 127.4% in April 2009, when Ford was emerging from the Great Recession without going through bankruptcy like its crosstown rivals General Motors and then-Chrysler.

Ford’s stock performance in July was driven by a steady stream of product-related announcements, including that it has secured battery supplies for its upcoming electric vehicles, as well as a 14.6% increase last week amid the company reporting second-quarter results that beat Wall Street’s expectations.

Ford last week also reiterated its previous guidance for the full year and said that it will increase its quarterly dividend to 15 cents per share, the amount it paid before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ford significantly outperformed GM, which was up by 14.2% last month, as well as other U.S.-listed automakers such as Stellantis, which was up 16.3%, Ferrari, up 15.1%, and Toyota Motor, up 5.5%. It failed to outperform others such as Rivian, which was up 33.3% last month, and Tesla, up 32.4%.

Ford’s stock remains off by about 26% in 2022, after being the top growth stock among U.S.-listed automakers last year.

— CNBC’s John Rosevear and Michael Bloom contributed to this report.