General Motors Company (GM) Beats Earnings Estimates

Updated on

General Motors released its fourth quarter earnings report before opening bell this morning, posting adjusted earnings of $1.39 per share and $39.6 billion in revenue, which was about flat with the previous years. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.20 per share and $39.03 billion in sales. In the year-ago quarter, General Motors reported adjusted earnings of $1.19 per share.

GM sees growth in all major areas

GAAP earnings were $3.92 per share as positive special items benefited the non-GAAP results by $2.53 per share. Global deliveries climbed 4.4% year over year to 2.7 million units, boosted by a 14.2% in China and an 8.6% increase in North America. Foreign currency had a negative impact of $1.4 billion. U.S. volumes climbed from 854,000 in the fourth quarter of 2014 to 927,000 units in 2015. China units rose to 1.15 million.

“The fourth quarter closed another very strong year of operating performance,” GM Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens said in a statement. “We plan to improve our results in 2016, driven by a significant vehicle launch cadence, continued emphasis on growing our adjacent businesses and an unrelenting focus on driving efficiencies into our core operations.”

GM sees volume increases in most regions

GM said its market share climbed 20 basis points year over year, again driven by China, although declines in market share in Europe and South America partially offset this increase. General Motors’ retail market share in the U.S. climbed to 17.3%, and retail share was 16.8%.

GM North America’s adjusted EBIT climbed from $2.2 billion in the year-ago quarter to $2.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015. The European business saw adjusted EBIT losses of $0.3 billion, although that was still an improvement from the previous year’s loss of $0.4 billion. GM International’s adjusted EBIT was flat year over year at $0.4 billion. In South America, the automaker broke even on an adjusted EBIT basis. GM Financial’s earnings before taxes climbed from $0.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014 to $0.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Shares of General Motors popped in premarket trading this morning, climbing by as much as 1.52% to $30.10 per share.

Leave a Comment