Ford has soared nearly 20% in two days. Could become an AI “meme” stock after energy pivot

ford motor The stock has tumbled in recent days as talk of its connection to energy storage could push the stock into one of the more talked about areas of the market.

The company’s shares rose 6.7% during Thursday trading, following a 13% rise the previous trading day. But before those spikes, the name hadn’t moved much this week, falling more than 2% in total from Monday to Tuesday.

Earlier this week, the company announced Ford Energy. Ford Energy is a wholly-owned subsidiary looking to offer battery energy storage systems assembled in the United States to “utilities, data centers, and large industrial and commercial customers” in the country.

This comes three years after the company announced it would build a $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery factory in Michigan with Chinese battery company Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL).

The partnership quickly drew scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers, but this week’s announcement spurred debate among analysts about U.S. companies’ use of Chinese companies’ technology. The automaker’s formal introduction of Ford Energy is particularly timely in light of the high-stakes summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, in which both sides agreed to establish a more cooperative relationship.

Morgan Stanley said in a note dated Tuesday that the subsidiary is an “underappreciated driver” of increasing profitability for the Model E electric car. With Ford now entering the energy storage market and licensing technology from CATL, the company said it is “very likely” that Ford will enter into energy storage supply agreements with large commercial customers and possibly hyperscalers “in the coming months.”

“Energy storage is a new business, but we have the right technology,” Morgan Stanley analysts led by Andrew Percoco wrote in a note. “As the geopolitical environment becomes increasingly complex, particularly with evolving regulations related to tariffs and foreign companies, we see this as an opportunity for Ford to deploy capital in strategic growth areas with structures that maintain operational and regulatory alignment.”

Those comments ignited a surge in stocks on Wednesday, sending the stock significantly ahead of the broader market. On this day, the S&P 500 rose about 0.6%.

Barclays’ Dan Levy wrote in a note Thursday that Wednesday’s trading action in the company’s stock highlights the company’s ability to “occasionally take advantage of the market’s ‘meme mentality.'”

Levy said Ford is likely to be perceived as a “hidden data center beneficiary” due to the stock’s jump in pre-market trading. “While this move probably didn’t make sense on its face (Ford still has a lot to prove), it makes sense given the market’s excitement about AI/data centers.”