Ford Shares Slide as Outlook Boost Underwhelms Investors (1)

Ford Motor Co. warned of pressure from an unexpected rise in commodity costs, spooking investors even as the automaker raised its full-year profit outlook on demand for high-margin pickups and SUVs.

The company now expects to earn as much as $10.5 billion before interest and taxes this year, up $500 million from its previous forecast. Ford’s first-quarter results also blew past Wall Street’s expectations late Wednesday, with adjusted earnings of 66 cents a share compared with 19 cents expected by analysts.

Yet Ford refrained from raising its full-year profit outlook to the same degree that its first-quarter profit beat ...