GM surges as upbeat 2024 profit outlook follows solid Q4 earnings
GM CEO Mary Barra said the group's EV division will be profitable by the second half of this year.
Updated at 9:38 AM EST
General Motors (GM) - Get Free Report posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday, as well as an upbeat 2024 profit forecast tied to what the carmaker described as a "resilient" U.S. economy.
GM has been working to cut costs and improve efficiencies since the summer. It accelerated those plans after settling its dispute with the United Auto Workers union in late October and agreeing to boost salaried workers' pay by around 25% over the next five years.
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The overall cost increase over that period, GM said, will be around $9.3 billion. The carmaker also noted that as part of that cost-cutting drive, it would not advertise during the 2024 Super Bowl, marking its first absence from the world's biggest annual sporting event since 2019.
For the three months ended in December, GM said adjusted earnings came in at $1.24 a share, down 41.5% from the same period in 2022 but firmly ahead of the Wall Street consensus of forecast of $1.16 per share.
Group revenue was $42.98 billion, GM said, a 0.3% dip from a year earlier. But the figure also beat analysts' consensus forecast of a $38.97 billion tally.
CEO Barra: 'GM well-positioned' for 2024
Looking into the coming year, GM sees earnings in the region of $8.50 to $9.50 a share, firmly ahead of the LSEG forecast of $7.87, with pre-tax profit of between $12 billion and $14 billion. GM noted, however, that around $1.45 of its 2024 forecast was due to a lower share count tied to the $10 billion buyback it unveiled last year.
GM also said its EV unit would see volume growth of around 10%, up from around 7% in 2023, and expects the division to turn profitable by the second half of this year.
"As we begin 2024, I believe GM is well positioned for a year of strong financial performance that will build on everything we accomplished — and learned — in 2023," CEO Mary Barra told investors in her regular letter to shareholders.
"Consensus is growing that the U.S. economy, the job market and auto sales will continue to be resilient, and at GM, we expect healthy industry sales of about 16 million units with the mix of EVs continuing to grow," she added.
"In our EV business, we expect our U.S. portfolio will become variable profit positive in the second half of the year based on our current expectations for EV demand and production growth, strong interest in our vehicles, lower commodity prices and other factors," Barra noted.
GM shares were marked9.6% higher in early Tuesday trading immediately following the earnings release to change hands at $38.72 each, a move that could nudge the stock into positive territory for the year.
"This was an important quarter to help regain Street confidence that has been shaken the last few quarters with the EV vision in flux and the Cruise black eye over the past few months," said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who carries an 'outperform' rating with a $40 price target on GM stock.
"With Barra & Co. in the midst of a massive EV transformation, this was a key quarter and outlook for the Street to gauge GM’s resilience as it appears the profit margins and growth targets are still very much on track despite this murky backdrop," he added.
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