Detroit – general motors The company on Tuesday beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter profit expectations and is on track to deliver even more “strong financial performance” in 2026.
The Detroit automaker slightly missed revenue expectations, but announced a 20% increase in its quarterly dividend and a new $6 billion share buyback authorization.
GM stock rose 8.75% on Tuesday.
Here’s how the company performed in the fourth quarter compared to average estimates compiled by LSEG:
Earnings per share: $2.51 adjusted vs. $2.20 expected Revenue: $45.29 billion vs. $45.8 billion expected
GM’s 2026 earnings forecast exceeds last year’s forecasts and results. This includes net income attributable to shareholders of $10.3 billion to $11.7 billion. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes ranged from $13 billion to $15 billion. Annual EPS is between $11 and $13.
Those estimates include expected spending of $10 billion to $12 billion for automakers, which continue to reevaluate their product portfolios away from all-electric vehicles amid billions of dollars in writedowns.
GM CEO Mary Barra told investors on a conference call Tuesday that the company expects to return to adjusted profit margins of 8% to 10% in North America this year. In 2025, it will be 6.8%, down from 9.2% the previous year.
GM’s 2025 results included net income attributable to stockholders of $2.7 billion, or earnings per share of $3.27. EBIT-adjusted earnings were $12.7 billion, or $10.60 per share. Adjusted auto free cash flow was $10.6 billion. These results were a significant double-digit decrease compared to 2024.
According to LSEG, the company’s 2026 adjusted EPS target is in line with the consensus of $11.73 per share.
GM’s 2025 sales were $185.02 billion, down 1.3% from 2024, including $45.3 billion in the fourth quarter, down 5.1% year over year.
In the final quarter of last year, the Detroit automaker reported EBIT-adjusted earnings of $2.8 billion and a net loss attributable to stockholders of $3.3 billion, or a loss of $3.60 per share, compared to a net loss of $2.96 billion, or a loss of $1.64 per share, in the year-ago period. The loss included more than $7.2 billion in special charges, primarily related to the exit from the electric vehicle business and restructuring efforts in China.
Earlier this month, GM pre-announced $7.1 billion in special expenses for the fourth quarter. Additional special costs include $357 million for “legal issues” related to OnStar and airbags, $5 million for the company’s recent headquarters relocation, and $133 million related to its defunct cruise robo-taxi division.
Automakers typically exclude “special items,” or one-time charges, from their adjusted financial results to give investors a clearer picture of their core ongoing business operations.
Barra said significantly downsizing the automaker’s headquarters in Detroit is expected to save hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Barra said GM remains in a strong position to return capital to shareholders despite the continued revaluation of automakers.
To continue these efforts, the company announced Tuesday that its board of directors has authorized a new $6 billion share repurchase, increasing the quarterly repurchase of common stock to 18 cents per share divided by 3 cents.
General Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra speaks at the grand opening of General Motors World Headquarters at Hudson’s Detroit on Monday, January 12, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Jeff Kowalski | Bloomberg | Getty Images
This will continue GM’s ongoing efforts to reduce its outstanding shares in order to increase its stock price. As of the end of last year, the company had 904 million shares outstanding. This is down from 995 million people at the end of the previous year, to 1.2 billion people by the end of 2023.
Regionally, GM’s North American operations continue to lead the company’s results, with sales down 28.1% last year to $10.45 billion, including a 1.3% decline to $2.24 billion in the fourth quarter.
GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said the U.S. tariffs would cost the company $3.1 billion in 2025, lower than the company’s previous forecast of $3.5 billion to $4.5 billion.
The Detroit automaker’s international operations, including South Korea, Brazil and the Middle East, reported adjusted profits of $737 million last year, an increase of $434 million compared to 2024. Equity gains from China were a loss of $316 million, down from a loss of $4.4 billion in 2024.
Barra said Tuesday that he is “hopeful” that the U.S. and South Korea can reach a new trade deal with South Korea that includes a 15% tariff on cars exported from South Korea to the United States, which was used in GM’s 2026 forecast.
President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States would restore tariffs to 25% after South Korea’s parliament failed to approve the deal.
“We wholeheartedly encourage countries to come to terms with the trade deals that we agreed to last October,” Barra told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau on “Squawk Box.”
GM is the second largest automobile importer in the United States after South Korean automaker Hyundai Motors. The Detroit automaker relies heavily on domestic factories for entry-level vehicles such as the Chevrolet Trax and Buick Envista.
