General Motors reported second-quarter earnings that fell short of Wall Street’s estimates after the company was unable to ship nearly 100,000 vehicles by quarter-end due to parts shortages.
But the company maintained its previous earnings guidance for the full year, saying that it’s confident it will be able to ramp up production in the second half of 2022. It also confirmed that it has locked in sufficient supplies of critical battery-related materials to support its plans to build 1 million electric vehicles per year in North America starting in 2025.
Here are the key numbers, compared with Wall Street’s consensus expectations as compiled by Refinitiv.
- Adjusted earnings per share: $1.14, versus $1.20 expected and $1.97 in the second quarter of 2021.
- Revenue: $35.76 billion, versus $33.58 billion expected and $34.17 billion in the second quarter of 2021.
- EBIT-adjusted: $2.34 billion, versus $4.12 billion in the second quarter of 2021.
- EBIT-adjusted margin: 8.0%, versus 11.2% in the first quarter of 2022 and 10.4% in the second quarter of 2021.
CEO Mary Barra said in a statement that GM has “binding agreements” securing all of the battery-related raw materials it will need to build 1 million electric vehicles annually in North America by 2025, including “new multi-year agreements” announced today with Livent Corp. for lithium, and with longtime GM battery partner LG Chem for cathode material.
Like other global automakers, GM has been working through supply-chain disruptions for the last several quarters as Covid-19 outbreaks – and more recently, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – have forced factory shutdowns and wreaked havoc with logistics around the world.
GM warned investors on July 1 that it had about 95,000 vehicles with missing components in its inventory. GM – like most automakers – books revenue when a completed vehicle is shipped to dealers, not before.
“We have been operating with lower volumes due to the semiconductor shortage for the past year, and we have delivered strong results despite those pressures,” Barra said. “There are concerns about economic conditions, to be sure. That’s why we are already taking proactive steps to manage costs and cash flows, including reducing discretionary spending and limiting hiring to critical needs and positions that support growth.
“We have also modeled many downturn scenarios and we are prepared to take deliberate action when and if necessary,” Barra said.
Barra said that GM is still confident that it will meet its previous guidance for the full year. The company expects net income of between $9.6 billion and $11.2 billion for 2022.
“This confidence comes from our expectation that GM global production and wholesale deliveries will be up sharply in the second half,” she said.
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