GM Third-Quarter Net Income Surges 151% to $3.335 Billion: Revenue of $50.02 Billion and Adjusted EPS of $3.70 Beat Expectations as Carmaker Unveils $20 Billion Buyback
Detroit — General Motors' third-quarter results easily beat analyst expectations on the back of resolute shoppers who continue to spring for pricey pickups and SUVs, Reuters reported. The company said on Tuesday that quarterly earnings before interest and tax, not including one-time items (adjusted EBIT), rose 22% from a year earlier, to $4.1 billion. That amounted to $3.70 per share, topping analyst expectations of $3.63, according to LSEG data.
Net income rose 151% to $3.3 billion in the third quarter, compared with $1.32 billion in the same quarter of 2025, the Detroit Free Press reported, as the Detroit automaker released results for the quarter ending September 30 on October 20. GM attributed the solid quarter to spending discipline, strong pricing strategies and growing business outside traditional auto sales. Revenue rose 2.9% to $50.02 billion, from $48.59 billion a year earlier, with net income attributable to stockholders of $3.335 billion and diluted earnings per share of $3.73, according to Zacks and Sharecast.
GM had previously disclosed that third-quarter unit sales fell 5.5%, hit by discontinued models, weaker EV demand and softer appetite for some large SUVs as elevated fuel prices pushed buyers toward smaller vehicles, Sharecast reported. But the Free Press said the third quarter saw GM's most popular vehicles — full-size pickup trucks — record their highest sales ever, and the company also recorded its best total fleet sales calendar year to date since 2019.
The automaker narrowed its full-year guidance, saying it expected to end 2026 with adjusted EBIT in the range of $14.5 billion to $15.5 billion, narrowed from previous guidance of $14 billion to $16 billion, and tightened its annual adjusted earnings-per-share forecast to between $12.75 and $13.75. GM said it remained confident despite inflationary pressures from higher logistics and energy costs, tariffs and other expenses, and said commodity inflation, including higher expenses for logistics and computer chips, would total about $2 billion this year, the high end of its previous forecast.
GM announced a new $20 billion multiyear share repurchase authorization in its earnings disclosure, having completed a $6 billion buyback launched in January, Sharecast reported. The move, CEO Mary Barra said in a letter to shareholders, "further demonstrates our board's commitment to creating even greater shareholder value." GM repurchased $2.5 billion of its stock in the third quarter, retiring 29 million shares, and distributed $200 million in dividends, the Free Press reported.
The financial effects of GM's electric-vehicle restructuring continue. The company has recorded $11.2 billion of EV-related charges since it began restructuring electric vehicle operations in the second half of 2025, of which $7.4 billion had a cash impact; through the end of the third quarter of 2026, GM had paid $4.6 billion of that amount and expects to pay another $1 billion in cash next quarter, with the rest to be paid in 2027, the Free Press reported. Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis are expected to report earnings on October 28.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 底特律文艺复兴中心（Renaissance Center），通用汽车全球总部所在地，资料图。照片：Michael Barera 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经维基共享资源。 / File photo: the Renaissance Center in Detroit, home to General Motors’ global headquarters. Photo by Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
