Mary Barra, CEO, GM at the NYSE, November 17, 2022.
Source: NYSE
DETROIT — General Motors solidly beat Wall Street’s top- and bottom-line expectations for the fourth quarter, while forecasting another strong year of results in 2023.
Shares were up more than 3% in premarket trading Tuesday.
Here’s how GM performed to close out last year, compared with analysts’ estimates as compiled by Refinitiv:
- Adjusted earnings per share: $2.12 vs. $1.69 expected
- Revenue: $43.11 billion vs. $40.65 billion expected
The fourth-quarter results easily topped a year earlier, when the automaker reported an adjusted EPS of $1.35 and revenue of $33.58 billion during the final three months of 2021.
GM’s full-year 2022 revenue was $156.7 billion, net income attributable to stockholders was $9.9 billion and EBIT-adjusted was a record $14.5 billion. Results were at the high-end of the company’s revised EBIT-adjusted guidance range.
Still, the automaker is facing a margin squeeze. GM’s net income slipped last year, down by less than 1% to $9.9 billion, with a 6.3% profit margin. Its adjusted profit margin was 9.2%, down 2.1 percentage points compared to the previous year.
The strong results and guidance come as the U.S. automotive industry is beginning to normalize after several years of record-low inventories and resilient consumer demand that led to automakers such as GM reporting record results.
For 2023, GM expects net income attributable to stockholders of $8.7 billion to $10.1 billion, adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion, and EPS-diluted and EPS-diluted-adjusted of between $6 and $7.
The results would be below 2022 earnings, but above average analyst forecasts compiled by Refinitv that called for an EPS of $5.73 this year.
GM forecast 2023 net automotive cash from operating activities of between $16 billion and $20 billion, and automotive free cash flow of $5 billion to $7 billion.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
