General Motors beats by $0.22, reports revs in-line; reaffirms FY18 in-line with 2017; new pickups expected to accelerate earnings in 2019 (39.54)
- Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.65 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.22 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.43; revenues fell 7.7% year/year to $34.48 bln vs the $34.28 bln Capital IQ Consensus. EBIT-adjusted of $3.1 bln was a record for a fourth quarter. This result was driven by sales of GM's latest crossovers, along with strong pricing and cost control — which more than offset a wholesale volume decline during the quarter. NA EBIT $2.9 bln from $2.7 bln.
- 2017 sales: Through December 31, 2017, GM sold 8.9 million vehicles globally, an increase of 0.8 percent from 2016, and grew market share in each of its three key markets. In the United States, GM sold 3 million vehicles, including record sales of crossovers and pickup trucks, helping the company earn record average transaction prices, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates. GM and its joint ventures sold 4 million vehicles in China for the first time. The record sales were anchored by Baojun and Buick, along with Cadillac, which posted a sales increase of 51 percent. In South America, Chevy posted a 13.8-percent sales increase. Global deliveries of electric vehicles were a record 69,500, led by record deliveries of Chevrolet Bolt EV (26,000) and Baojun E100 (11,500).
- To advance its vision of a zero emissions world, GM laid out plans to introduce at least 20 new all-electric vehicles that will launch by 2023.
- The company also recently filed a Safety Petition asking the U.S. Department of Transportation to allow GM to safely deploy its fourth-gen self-driving Cruise AV on public roads. This vehicle eliminates the steering wheel, pedals and other unnecessary manual controls. GM expects to deploy self driving vehicles in a ride sharing environment in 2019.
- In January, GM forecasted its full-year 2018 to be largely in line with 2017's record performance, building on previous records in 2016 and 2015.
- The introduction of its all-new full-size pickups later this year is expected to help accelerate earnings in 2019.