The GM logo is seen on the facade of the General Motors headquarters in Detroit on March 16, 2021.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
DETROIT — General Motors CFO Paul Jacobson on Tuesday said the company expects earnings next year to top its 2025 results, which have performed far better than Wall Street’s expectations.
Investors had been hoping to hear comments about 2026 guidance as the automaker reported third-quarter earnings that included raising 2025 guidance and topping Wall Street’s expectations.
“Looking ahead to 2026, we have multiple levers to carry our current momentum forward, including progress on [electric vehicle] losses, warranty costs, tariff offsets, regulatory requirements and fixed costs,” Jacobson said. “As a result, we expect next year to be even better than 2025.”
The company’s shares were trading up more than 10% on Tuesday. The stock closed Monday at $58 per share.
Jacobson also said the automaker will continue to repurchase shares, which the company has been aggressive about in recent years. At the end of the third quarter, GM’s outstanding shares were at $954 million, a 15% decline from a year earlier.
“We’re going to continue to just focus on executing the business and executing the plan, and that’s worked really well for us and we expect it will in ’26,” Jacobson said.
GM stock in 2025.
Jacobson and GM CEO Mary Barra said the company’s top priority is returning adjusted profit margins in North America – its core market – to 8% to 10% but did not give a time frame for meeting that goal. The margin was 6.2% during the third quarter.
GM’s updated 2025 guidance includes adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of between $12 billion and $13 billion, or $9.75 to $10.50 adjusted EPS, up from $10 billion to $12.5 billion, or $8.25 to $10 adjusted EPS, and adjusted automotive free cash flow of $10 billion to $11 billion, up from $7.5 billion to $10 billion.
“This commentary is encouraging and consistent with our incoming view that automakers could convey positive messaging beyond 2025,” TD Cowen analyst Itay Michaeli said Tuesday in an investor note about 2026.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Tom Narayan said he expects 2026 analyst consensus to “move significantly higher” following the third-quarter results and adjusted guidance.
Citi’s Michael Ward said the recent results and guidance signal a larger cultural change for GM: “In the past it was said it was difficult to turn the big ship GM too quickly. Given the changing landscape, GM has found a way to turn it much faster than in the past.”
— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
