General Motors (GM 3.45%) stock roared higher in Tuesday's trading. The auto giant's share price gained 14.9% thanks to strong quarterly results.
Before the market opened this morning, GM published its third-quarter results -- and performance for the period came in better than anticipated. In addition to sales and earnings beats, the company issued encouraging forward guidance.
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GM stock surges on strong Q3 report
For Q3, GM reported non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share (EPS) of $2.80 on sales of $48.59 billion. EPS came in $0.48 above the level targeted by the average Wall Street analyst estimate. While the company's sales were down roughly 0.3% year over year, sales and earnings results for the period still topped the market's expectations.
Management touted the business's strong earnings and free-cash-flow performances in the quarter. The company posted its best Q3 market-share performance since 2017; strong margins and a restructuring for the China segment helped deliver better-than-expected earnings performance.
What's next for GM?
In conjunction with its encouraging Q3 results, GM raised its full-year performance targets. The company now anticipates that adjusted EPS for the year will be between $9.75 and $10. Previously, the auto giant had guided for adjusted EPS to be between $8.25 and $10.
Management now expects tariff-related costs to come in at $4.5 billion -- down from its previous forecast for costs of $5 billion. At least $1.2 billion of those costs are expected to eventually be offset by shifting some truck production back to domestic plants. With lower-than-anticipated tariff costs helping to support higher earnings, investors are feeling more bullish about GM.
