GM stock jumps 10% premarket on big earnings beat

General Motors jumped as much as 10% in premarket trading after the company reported third-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates senseless on both revenue and profit —even as net income dropped hard vs. last year.

What’s behind investors' enthusiasm? News that the company can, apparently, keep trucking through tariffs and the slings and arrows of the EV market. GM’s all-electric efforts weighed on profits, and tariffs brought down margins in their all-important North American market—GM’s white-hot profit center—but the company said that the full-year impact of President Donald Trump’s renewed trade wars are likely to come in below earlier estimates .

That lower impact helped GM boost its full-year guidance to as much as $13 billion in adjusted EBIT and $10.50 in adjusted EPS—both higher than previously projected—hence the 10% before-the-bell jump in GM’s stock price.

A closer look beneath the Q3 hood

In all, GM posted nearly $49 billion in revenue , flat from last year but above analyst expectations of $45.3 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.80 , well ahead of the $2.31 forecast.

Net income dropped 57% to $1.3 billion, dragged down by a $1.6 billion in one-time charges linked to its pullback in all-electric vehicles. North American profit margins narrowed to 6.2% from 9.7%, yet strength in GM’s China operations, which swung to an $80 million profit, and solid cash flow from its finance arm provided ballast.

The company said it now expects tariffs to cost between $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion in 2025, down from earlier projections as high as $5 billion, and that it will be able to offset roughly 35% of those costs through supply-chain adjustments and localized production.

A truck empire still paying the bills

GM’s profits still come from a very old-fashioned source—gas-powered pickups and SUVs built in North America. The business generates most of the cash, thanks in large part to the Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Tahoe, and Yukon. The full-size vehicles command sticker prices as high as $100,000.

So no wonder Mary Barra’s most important business unit remains GM North America. Its 6.2% margin, down from nearly 10% a year ago, still beats the thin or nonexistent returns elsewhere. Meanwhile, GM Financial acts as the company’s stabilizer, giving GM a steady cash stream even when vehicle profits are compressed.

More future-facing ventures, on the other hand, are not looking so high-performing or even promising. GM booked $1.6 billion in charges tied to an “ EV strategic realignment " that follows regulatory rollbacks and subdued demand. So, for now, the company's old-fashioned truck empire remains the engine. And at least as of Tuesday morning, investors approve.

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