General Motors (GM) Posts Strong Q2 2021 Earnings Report; Misses Wall Street Expectations

General Motors (NYSE: GM) posted second-quarter (Q2) earnings of $34.2 billion in revenue and $1.97 in adjusted EPS, which missed Wall Street expectations. In comparison, Wall Street projected that General Motors would hit a $30.9 billion revenue, and a $2.23 adjusted EPS. 

The discrepancies in figures were due to several challenges the automakers have been weathering since last year. They include a $1.3 billion warranty recall deficit, including $800 million from the Chevrolet Bolt EV. Also, its electric vehicles have been recalled twice in the past year due to fire risks.

In addition, GM, just like other automobile companies worldwide, has been grappling with a shortage of semiconductor chips. This led to factory shutdowns and cost the automobile industry billions of dollars in 2021. Only on Tuesday, GM announced plans to shut down its three North American full-size pickup truck assembly plants next week. As a result, the reduced number of available vehicle units produced now cost higher, leading to bigger profits.

General Motors Forecasts

GM Financial forecasted earnings for the year to initially range between $10 billion and $11 billion. The company also forecasted $4.50 to $5.25 per share in adjusted pretax profits. In addition, there was also an adjusted automotive free cash flow of between $1 billion and $2 billion. These forecasts factored in the potential impact of the chip shortage currently plaguing the industry. Consequently, the company projected a drawdown of between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in earnings. 

Despite this, General Motors’ shares rose. Although at the time of this writing, GM’s shares saw a 3% dip during premarket trading to $56.35 a share, the carmakers on Wednesday, raised its full-year guidance to between $11.5 billion and $13.5 billion. This roughly translates to earnings of $5.40 to $6.40 a share, which is a significant increase from $4.50 to $5.25 YoY. Furthermore, the overall compounded value now sits at $11 billion from $10 billion. In the face of strong demand, the car company anticipates its first-half EBIT-adjusted to range between $8.5 billion and $9.5 billion. This represents a rise from an earlier year forecast of $5.5 billion.

GM Earnings in 2020

Last year, General Motors reported a $536 million adjusted pretax loss in the Q2 of 2020. Its revenue was $16.8 billion, and it had a Financial EBT-adjustment of $0.2 billion. A net income loss of $758 million was also reported, and the automakers had to shut down several production plants. This wasn’t surprising and was a similar fate shared by many other companies in the industry in the face of the pandemic.

As a follow-through to its recent quarterly report, company GM CFO Paul Jacobson intends to hold a conference call for investors and analysts to discuss recent developments as well as the company’s growth blueprint.