General Motors CEO Mary Barra speaks to the news media June 12, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
General Motors is set to report its third-quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday. Here’s what Wall Street is expecting, based on average analysts’ estimates compiled by Refinitive.
- Adjusted EPS: $1.38
- Revenue: $35.51 billion
Former CFO Dhivya Suryadevara told investors in July that the automaker expected the third quarter to be “slightly stronger” than the fourth quarter. She unexpectedly left GM for digital payments company Stripe in August.
Suryadevara said if the monthly sales pace during the second half of the year was 14 million, investors should expect a pretax profit of $4 billion to $5 billion through the fourth quarter. In that scenario, GM expected to generate free cash flow of $7 billion to $9 billion. Suryadevara declined to release official guidance at the time, citing fluidity due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Cox Automotive estimated the U.S. sales pace at 15.3 million in the third quarter, which should allow GM to outperform those projections.
GM reported an adjusted pretax profit of $3 billion, or $1.72 earnings per share, in the third quarter of 2019. Revenue was $35.47 billion.
Both Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler beat Wall Street’s expectations on better-than-expected demand for trucks and SUVs in North America. Those are segments GM has substantial market shares of as well.
GM’s U.S. vehicle sales were down 17.4% heading into the fourth quarter, including a decline of 9.9% in the third quarter. That compared to a 5% decline
GM’s shares remain down by about 3% so far this year, despite a 16.7% increase in the stock price in October.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.