Ferrari posts strong 2017 earnings - shares surge

Ferrari

• Ferrari's 2017 earnings were in line with expectations.
• The carmaker said it would double earnings by 2022.
• Shares surged in pre-market trading.

Ferrari has been on quite a run since its 2015 initial public offering, and the carmaker expects it to continue.

The company reported strong full-year 2017 earnings on Thursday, and with EBITDA at 1.04 billion euros, they were "in line with expectations, breaching the 1 billion euro mark two years earlier than forecast at the time of its initial public offering," according to Reuters.

The Italian supercar isn't holding back on its ambitions.

"Ferrari forecast to double core earnings to 2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) no later than 2022 and become debt free a year earlier, betting on racy demand for its supercars and new launches, including a planned SUV," Reuters added.

The SUV has been all but officially announced as CEO Sergio Marchionne has teased details on previous earnings conference calls and more recently at the Detroit auto show in January.

With over 9,000 vehicles expected to be sold in 2018 - all of them relatively low-demand sports cars, supercars, or hypercars - the "Ferrari utility vehicle," or FUV as Marchionne calls it, has the potential to greatly increase the company's annual output.

Shares surged almost 6% in pre-market trading on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, to $126. The stock is up over 90% for the past 12 months

Markets Insider