GM Earnings Boast Strong Sales, Margins

Excluding losses from special items, the company’s EPS totaled $0.84.

North American pretax earnings rose from $1.9 billion a year ago to $2 billion this year. GM trimmed its losses in Europe, from $400 million a year ago to $100 million this year. International pretax earnings were down, from $600 million a year ago to $200 million.

For the six-months in its current fiscal year, GM’s international pretax profits are down more than $400 million year-over-year, and the company’s total pretax profit is down more than $250 million. International sales were down 3.6%, not a good sign for the company’s sales in China.

The company’s CEO said:

We continue to perform well in the world’s two most important markets, the U.S. and China. We also made further progress in our European business and saw the steady performance of our global brands Chevrolet and Cadillac. For the rest of the year, we’ll focus on winning customers with high-quality vehicles at a compelling value.

The earnings announcement did not include guidance, but the consensus estimate for the third quarter calls for EPS of $0.97 on revenues of $39.11 billion. Full-year EPS is estimated at $3.31 on revenues of $156.25 billion.

GM’s shares are trading up about 2.7% in premarket activity this morning at $38.13, a new 52-week high if it holds. The current 52-week range is $18.72 to $37.45. The consensus target price for the shares was around $42.45 before today’s report.