General Motors raises 2023 guidance as first-quarter earnings beat expectations

DETROIT — General Motors is set to report its first-quarter earnings before the bell Tuesday.

GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson earlier this month said the first quarter was coming in “right alongside” the company’s expectations, noting sales were up 18%.

“We gained share during that time period, and we did it without going after price. We did it without increasing and ramping up incentives,” he said April 4 during a BofA Securities conference.

Here’s what Wall Street is expecting, according to Refinitiv consensus estimates:

• Adjusted earnings per share: $1.73
• Revenue: $38.95 billion

Those results would mark a sharp year-over-year decline in adjusted EPS but an 8.3% increase in revenue, as vehicle profits normalize compared with inflated levels a year ago due to tight supplies and resilient demand.

GM’s 2023 forecast expects net income attributable to stockholders of between $8.7 billion and $10.1 billion. It expects adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion and adjusted earnings per share of between $6 and $7. Adjusted automotive free cash flow is forecast to be between $5 billion and $7 billion.

Aside from earnings, Wall Street will be watching for additional details on a wide-reaching employee buyout program that’s a major part of the automaker’s plans to cut $2 billion in structural costs by the end of 2024.

Jacobson said the company expects to take a roughly $1 billion charge during the first quarter as a result of the program, which saw about 5,000 employees globally opt for the buyouts.

Wall Street also will be watching for any new information regarding the company’s electric vehicle production, which has been slow to ramp up, as well as any commentary about the current EV landscape following price cuts from industry leader Tesla.

Analysts are cautiously optimistic regarding first-quarter earnings for much of the automotive industry amid broader economic concerns.

“Net it all out, and we have what is setting up to be a ‘solid’ quarter with ‘optimistic’ outlooks that may not ‘land’ well with investors focused on an uncertain macro,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in an April 14 investor note.

Shares of GM have put up lackluster performance this year, up by about 2%. They closed Monday at $34.29 per share — off from a 52-week high of $43.63 per share.

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