GM stock soars 15% as automaker raises guidance, beats Q3 earnings

DETROIT — General Motors raised its 2025 financial guidance Tuesday after beating Wall Street's top- and bottom-line earnings expectations for the third quarter, while lowering its expected impact from tariffs.

GM stock was up by more than 15% in trading Tuesday. The stock, which closed Monday at $58 per share, is on pace for its best day since 2020.

Here's how the company performed in the third quarter, compared with average estimates compiled by LSEG:

GM's third-quarter revenue of $48.59 billion was down less than 1% from $48.76 billion in the same period last year. Adjusted earnings exclude one-time or special items, some interest and taxes as well as other financials not considered "core" to the company's operations. 

GM's new outlook signals strength for the automaker heading into the fourth quarter and beats Wall Street analysts' current expectations for the last three months of the year.

The updated guidance includes adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of between $12 billion and $13 billion, or $9.75 to $10.50 adjusted EPS, up from $10 billion to $12.5 billion, or $8.25 to $10 adjusted EPS, and adjusted automotive free cash flow of $10 billion to $11 billion, up from $7.5 billion to $10 billion.

GM stock in 2025

The automaker's new EPS target suggests fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of between $1.64 and $2.39, with a midpoint around $2.02, which is above current consensus of $1.94.

"Thanks to the collective efforts of our team, and our compelling vehicle portfolio, GM delivered another very good quarter of earnings and free cash flow," GM CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday in a shareholder letter. "Based on our performance, we are raising our full-year guidance, underscoring our confidence in the company's trajectory."

GM also reduced the expected impact of tariffs this year to between $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion, down from $4 billion to $5 billion. The automaker expects to offset about 35% of that impact.

Barra on Tuesday thanked President Donald Trump for "the important tariff updates" Friday that included imposing levies on imported medium- and heavy-duty trucks and parts as well as extending a tariff offset worth 3.75% of the value of American-made vehicles.

GM's adjusted results do not include $1.6 billion in special charges reported by the automaker last week due to its pullback in all-electric vehicles, which more than halved its net income attributable to stockholders compared with the third quarter of 2024.

The company's net income attributable to stockholders was $1.3 billion during the just-reported period, down 57% from roughly $3.1 billion a year earlier. Its net income margin also plummeted to 2.7%, down from 6.3% a year earlier.

GM CFO Paul Jacobson on Tuesday said only about 40% of the company's EVs were profitable on a production, or contribution-margin basis. He signaled that the company expects profitability for EVs to take longer than previously expected amid an expected slowdown in adoption.

"We continue to believe that there is a strong future for electric vehicles, and we've got a great portfolio to be competitive, but we do have some structural changes that we need to do to make sure that we lower the cost of producing those vehicles," he told CNBC's Phil LeBeau during "Squawk Box."

GM has made significant gains in EV sales this year. Motor Intelligence reported that the Detroit automaker went from an 8.7% market share to begin this year to 13.8% through the third quarter – topping Hyundai Motor, including Kia, at 8.6% through September. GM still trails U.S. EV leader Tesla by a wide margin.

GM's North American business, which has driven its profits this decade, earned more than $2.5 billion during the third quarter, on an adjusted basis. Its adjusted profit margin declined from 9.7% a year earlier to 6.2% during the most recent quarter.

Barra said in Tuesday's letter that the automaker's "top priority" is to return to 8% to 10% adjusted profit margins in North America through "driving EV profitability, maintaining production and pricing discipline, managing fixed costs, and further reducing tariff exposure."

Gains in the company's China operations, up $217 million from a year earlier, as well as its international markets, up $184 million, helped offset the lower North American earnings during the third quarter.

GM Financial, the automaker's lending arm, also reported adjusted earnings of $804 million, up 17% from the third quarter of 2024.