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GM smashes expectations and guides toward a strong 2023, despite margin squeeze



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DETROIT — General Motors handily beat Wall Street’s top- and bottom-line expectations for the fourth quarter, while forecasting another solid year of results in 2023.The strong report suggests GM is hanging onto record, or near-record, results even as the U.S. automotive industry begins to normalize after several years of record-low inventories and resilient consumer demand.Shares of GM were up roughly 8% in early trading Tuesday.Here’s how GM performed to close out last year, compared with analysts’ estimates as compiled by Refinitiv:Adjusted earnings per share: $2.12 vs. $1.69 expectedRevenue: $43.11 billion vs. $40.65 billion expectedThe fourth-quarter results easily topped a year earlier, when the automaker reported an adjusted EPS of $1.35 and revenue of $33.58 billion for the final three months of 2021.GM’s full-year 2022 revenue came in at $156.7 billion, with net income attributable to stockholders of $9.9 billion and adjusted earnings before interest and tax at a record $14.5 billion. Those results marked the high-end of the company’s previously revised guidance.Mary Barra, CEO, GM at the NYSE, November 17, 2022.Source: NYSEStill, the automaker is showing signs of a margin squeeze. GM’s net income slipped last year, down by less than 1% from full-year 2021 to $9.9 billion, with a profit margin that was off 1.6 percentage points to 6.3%. Its adjusted profit margin was 9.2%, down 2.1 percentage points compared with the previous year.GM said it incurred special charges in the fourth quarter of $511 million related to a buyout program for its Buick dealers and $657 million related to shuttering its limited operation in Russia.2023 guidanceFor 2023, GM expects net income attributable to stockholders of between $8.7 billion and $10.1 billion. It expects adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion and adjusted earnings per share of between $6 and $7.Those results …

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