Ask Matt: Which big automaker's stock is the best?

Q: Which big automaker's stock is the best?

A: Auto sales in May from General Motors (GM) and Ford Motors (F) were far from robust. The same goes for their shares, leading some investors to wonder if there’s opportunity.

General Motors and Ford, the two top U.S. automakers, have seen their shares sink 6% and 3% respectively this year as investors wisely buckled up for a sales slowdown. Ford Wednesday reported a nearly 6% decline in U.S. auto sales - which was a steeper decline than some analysts were expecting. The dropoff was even worse at GM, where U.S. sales fell 18%, also a deeper decline than predicted. Wall Street remains more optimistic about GM than Ford. The company’s adjusted profit per share is expected to rise 12.6% in the current year and 3.5% in the next, says S&P Global Market Intelligence. Analysts, on average, rate GM “outperform” and see the stock being worth $39.06 in 18 months, which is 29% higher than Wednesday’s price of around $30 a share. It’s a less bullish story at Ford. The company’s adjusted profit is seen growing 9.3% in 2016, far more slowly than GM’s, and 1% in 2017. Analysts rate the stock a “hold,” but still think it could be worth 23% more than Wednesday’s price of around $13 a share in 18 months.

Paste BN markets reporter Matt Krantz answers a different reader question every weekday. To submit a question, e-mail Matt at mkrantz@usatoday.com or on Twitter @mattkrantz.