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GM withdraws guidance amid auto strikes

GM stock was largely unchanged on Tuesday after the company reported third quarter results.

Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:

Against the backdrop of bruising contract talks with the United Auto Workers (UAW), GM (GM) on Tuesday reported a third quarter revenue and profit beat but withdrew its 2023 guidance on labor strike uncertainty.

GM CFO Paul Jacobson said the company was pulling its previously announced profit guidance of $12 billion to $14 billion in EBIT (earnings before interest expense and taxes) and net income attributable to stockholders of between $9.3 billion and $10.7 billion.

For the third quarter, GM reported top-line revenue of $44.13 billion (vs. $43.01 billion estimated), a 5.4% gain from a year ago. On the profitability front, GM reported adjusted EPS of $2.28 a share (vs. $1.84 expected), on net income of $3.06 billion.

Jacobson also said the labor strikes, which started in mid-September have cost the automaker roughly $800 million in pre-tax earnings due to lost vehicle production, including $200 million during the third quarter.

In addition to striking at GM plants in Wentzville, Mo., and Lansing, Mich., the UAW is striking at all GM parts and distribution centers, crippling the automaker’s ability to service customers’ cars and provide parts to other assembly plants. On Monday morning, the UAW expanded its labor walkouts at GM rival Stellantis, pulling over 6,000 workers from Stellantis’s highly profitable Ram truck plant in Sterling Heights, Mich.

Earlier this month, GM indicated that it could take a $200 million hit to third quarter profits due to the ongoing strike. JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman estimated that GM is likely losing $21 million a day due to plant and parts distribution center closures.

GM is also moderating its electric vehicle investments. Last week, GM said it was delaying its EV truck expansion, pushing back the conversion of an EV truck plant to late 2025 in order to “better manage capital investment while aligning with evolving EV demand.”

“We are also moderating the acceleration of EV production in North America to protect our pricing, adjust to slower near-term growth in demand, and implement engineering efficiency and other improvements that will make our vehicles less expensive to produce, and more profitable,” CEO Mary Barra said in her shareholder letter.