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

Ford at the New York International Auto Show in New York City on April 2, 2026. Danielle DeVries | CNBC Ford Motor shares have been on a tear the past couple days as buzz around its relationship to energy storage could be setting up the stock to join names in more viral areas of the market. The stock jumped more than 6% during Thursday's session, a move that comes after a 13% pop in the prior trading day. Prior to those spikes though, the name hadn't moved much this week, being down more than 2% altogether between Monday and Tuesday. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Ford, 5-day The company had announced Ford Energy earlier this week – a wholly-owned subsidiary that looks to offer battery energy storage systems assembled in the U.S. "for utilities, data centers and large industrial and commercial customers" in the country. This comes three years after the company said it's going to work with Chinese battery company Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) on a $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan. While that partnership swiftly drew scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers , this week's announcement spurred discussion among analysts about a U.S. company utilizing technology from a Chinese company. The automaker's formal introduction 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 establish a more cooperative relationship . …