General Motors (GM) Stock Trades Up, Here Is Why

What Happened?

Shares of automotive manufacturer General Motors (NYSE:GM) jumped 9% in the afternoon session after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations and provided an upbeat profit forecast for the upcoming year. 

Despite a slight revenue miss, with sales of $45.29 billion falling short of the $45.81 billion consensus, the company delivered a strong performance on profitability. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.51, easily surpassing the estimated $2.26. The company's efficiency also improved significantly, with its operating margin expanding to 6.3% from 3.2% in the same quarter last year. Looking ahead, General Motors guided for full-year 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $12 at the midpoint, which was also ahead of analyst forecasts.

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What Is The Market Telling Us

General Motors’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 3 months ago when the stock gained 15% on the news that the company reported strong third-quarter results that surpassed expectations and raised its full-year financial outlook. 

The automaker posted third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.80 per share, easily topping the consensus estimate of $2.32. Revenue for the quarter came in at $48.59 billion, which also significantly surpassed Wall Street's expectation of $45.02 billion. Capping off the positive report, the company boosted investors' confidence by raising its full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance to a midpoint of $10.13, an 11% increase from its previous forecast.

General Motors is up 7.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $87.14 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of General Motors’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,766.

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