On Tuesday morning, despite markets being closed, Ford (NYSE: F) released its third-quarter earnings report. The report showed strong results in North America and at Ford Credit, which resulted in record third-quarter profit for the U.S. automaker. Ford also announced cuts in European operations.

Revenue in the third quarter came in a $32.1 billion, compared to $33.1 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts were calling for revenue of $31.07 billion. North American sales totaled $19.5 billion, topping last year's revenue by $1.5 billion, but European sales declined to $5.8 billion from $7.8 billion last year, offsetting gains.

In response to ongoing disappointing European results, Ford announced a plan to close three facilities and relocate products, reducing Ford Europe's installed vehicle assembly capacity by 18 percent.

Alan Mulally, Ford president and CEO, said, "While we are facing near-term challenges in Europe, we are fully committed to transforming our business in Europe by moving decisively to match production to demand."

Despite struggles in Europe, Ford reported healthy profits in the third quarter as operating margins improved in North America. This resulted in Q3 EPS of 40 cents per share, 10 cents ahead of analyst estimates.

Ford reiterates its Oct. 25 guidance that, as a result of the deteriorating environment in Europe, as well as elements of its transformation plan, the company now expects Ford Europe's pre-tax loss for full year 2012 to exceed $1.5 billion.

Overall, for the year, Ford expects its total company pre-tax operating profit to be strong.

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Craig-Hallum Upgrades Ford (F) to BuyOctober 31, 2012 7:20 AM