General Motors reported its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday, posting adjusted pre-tax earnings of nearly $3.5 billion. The Detroit automaker reported $2.78 of earnings per share (EPS), $0.17 above the analyst estimate of $2.61.
“Given the evolving nature of the situation, we believe the future impact of tariffs could be significant,” Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said. “We are reassessing our guidance and look forward to sharing more when we have greater clarity.”
In the first three months of the year, the company generated $2.78 billion in net income attributable to shareholders, down from the $2.98 billion in net income reported a year ago.
Revenue increased 2.3% year over year to $44.02 billion and also came in higher than the consensus estimate of $43.26 billion.
Immediately after the results were released, GM shares were trading 3% lower at $45.80 during Tuesday’s pre-market session.
The company will host an earnings conference call later this Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Last week, Citi Bank started coverage on General Motors with a price target of $62 and a Buy rating. Analyst Michael Ward said that “at the current rate, the new tariffs will likely have a negative impact on GM’s near-term performance.”
However, “there are levers the company can apply to mitigate the impact in the intermediate and long term”, such as “underutilized plants in Ft Wayne, IN and Spring Hill, TN that share platforms with vehicles assembled in Mexico for the U.S. market”, which could “help to limit some of the tariff impact from Mexico.”
Ward highlighted that the group “also relies on imports from China to supply the market in Mexico,” suggesting that “production of some of those vehicles can be moved into the Mexico plants.”
“Over the last three years, GM has generated $30 billion of surplus operating cash flow, returning two-thirds of it to shareholders,” the analyst noted, with Citi expecting “the elevated cash generation to continue in 2025-26 despite the near-term headwinds from the tariffs.”
Earlier this month, General Motors’ executive vice president of global manufacturing resigned, one year after joining the Detroit automaker. JP Clausen was leading the company’s manufacturing, labor relations organizations, sustainable workplaces and stated that the decision wasn’t made “lightly.”
