Ford surges nearly 20% in two days. It might be an AI ‘meme’ stock after energy pivot

Ford Motor Shares have been falling over the past few days as rumors around its relationship with energy storage could see the stock join names in more viral areas of the market.

The stock rose 6.7% in Thursday’s session; This follows a 13% rise in the previous trading day. However, before these increases, the name had not changed much this week; It fell more than 2% overall between Monday and Tuesday.

There was a company Ford announced Energy Earlier this week, it announced a wholly owned subsidiary that aims to offer mounted battery energy storage systems “for utilities, data centers, and large industrial and commercial customers” in the United States.

That means the company is working with Chinese battery company Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. at a $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery factory in Michigan. It comes three years after he announced he would be working with (CATL).

The partnership quickly came under scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers, while this week’s announcement fueled debate among analysts that a U.S. company was using a Chinese company’s technology. The automaker’s official unveiling of Ford Energy is especially timely given the high-stakes summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where the two sides agreed to forge a more cooperative relationship.

In a note published Tuesday, Morgan Stanley called subsidiary Model e an “underappreciated driver” on the path to profitability for its electric vehicles. Now, with Ford’s entry into the energy storage market and licensing technology from CATL, the firm said there’s a “fairly high likelihood” the automaker will close energy storage supply deals with large commercial customers and possibly hyperscalers in the “next few months.”

“Energy storage is a new business, but they have the right technology,” a team of Morgan Stanley analysts led by Andrew Percoco wrote in a note. “In an increasingly complex geopolitical environment – ​​particularly around tariffs and changing regulations on foreign entities – we see this as an opportunity for Ford to deploy capital into a strategic growth area with a structure that maintains operational control and regulatory compliance.”

Those comments fueled the stock’s rally on Wednesday, with the stock significantly outperforming the broader market. The S&P 500 rose about 0.6% that day.

Wednesday’s trading action in the stock highlights its ability to “occasionally tap into the market’s ‘meme spirit,'” Barclays’ Dan Levy wrote in a note Thursday.

Levy said the stock’s rise in the previous session likely painted Ford as a “secret data center beneficiary.” “While this move doesn’t make sense on its face (Ford has a lot to prove), it makes sense in the context of the market’s excitement for AI/data centers.”