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GM Boosts Outlook by $500 Million
Revenue Fell Less Than 1% in Q1 to $43.6 Billion
General Motors Co. raised its profit outlook for the year by $500 million despite inflation in raw material costs, citing resilient demand for pickups and sport utility vehicles.
The Detroit-based automaker now expects as much as $15.5 billion in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes this year, the company said April 28 as it reported first-quarter profit that topped Wall Street’s estimates. The raised outlook reflects about $500 million of tariff-cost relief tied to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in February to strike down certain levies President Donald Trump imposed last year.
“GM continues its execution hot streak,” Evercore ISI analyst Chris McNally said in a note. The automaker has beat estimates for adjusted earnings per share each of the last 15 quarters.
Sales of GM’s lucrative Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, its largest profit generators, remained strong despite the average price for regular unleaded surging above $4 a gallon by the end of March. Adjusted earnings rose to $3.70 a share in the first quarter, far exceeding the $2.60 a share figure expected among analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
“We really haven’t seen any changes,” Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said in a Bloomberg Television interview, when asked whether higher gas prices are dampening demand for bigger vehicles. “Traffic has remained steady.”
At the same time, GM is seeing inflation “across the board,” Jacobson said, pointing to higher costs for aluminum, steel, transportation and logistics. GM now expects commodity inflation to set back adjusted Ebit by as much as $2 billion this year, rather than up to $1.5 billion previously.
General Motors CFO Paul Jacobson says the automaker has not added significant price increases as he discusses first-quarter earnings that included a rise in the company’s profit outlook https://t.co/OoRiW5RGio pic.twitter.com/q5qooO3GpK — Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) April 28, 2026
“Despite our beat, we’re not taking up our guidance by nearly as much,” Jacobson told Bloomberg TV. “We are cautious about how long this might last.”
GM shares pared early premarket gains as Jacobson detailed those pressures, trading up 0.6% as of 9:15 a.m. in New York. Automakers including GM and Ford Motor Co. have tumbled since the Iran war began in late February, with GM’s stock falling about 4% this year through the April 27 close, trailing gains by the broader the S&P 500 Index.
The results measure up against a tough comparison a year ago, when U.S. consumers rushed to buy cars ahead of Trump raising tariff rates on trade partners. While the Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 20 that the majority of levies imposed by Trump were illegal, automakers continue to face higher tariffs on imported vehicles and parts that the administration put in place based on different legal foundations.
GM now expects $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion in gross tariff costs this year, down from a range of $3 billion to $4 billion. Revenue fell less than 1% in the first quarter to $43.6 billion, exceeding the average estimate by more than $200 million.
Lower EV sales also helped the company’s bottom line, since those models lose money. The question going forward is whether gas prices eventually will repel U.S. consumers away from trucks and large SUVs and toward more fuel-efficient and electric models.
GM’s ongoing realignment of its EV business to reflect lower demand for battery-powered cars resulted in another $1.1 billion in Ebit charges, with moves including transitioning a plant north of Detroit to combustion engine-powered models and discontinuing its BrightDrop electric van brand.
The automaker also reported $2.2 billion in cash charges paid during the quarter, primarily related to canceling contracts and compensating parts suppliers for low EV volumes.
