GM, Stellantis report strong Q1 results despite production issues

GM and Stellantis released first-quarter financial results on Wednesday, touting sales of their profitable trucks and SUVs, despite production disruptions that could continue into 2022.

GM posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings despite a global semiconductor chip shortage as it kept costs low and focused on high-margin pickup trucks and SUVs, and said it expected pre-tax profit on the market. would be at the highest level all year round. end of his prediction.

“The speed and agility of our team are central as we move from managing a pandemic to managing the global semiconductor shortage,” said Chief Executive Mary Barra in a letter to shareholders. “This remains a challenging period for the company as we come out of 2020.”

Barra added that the “supply chain and manufacturing teams of the No. 1 US automaker are maximizing the production of high-demand vehicles with capacity constraints”.

GM reiterated its full-year 2021 earnings expectations, saying, “based on what we know today,” the results will be at the top end of the adjusted pre-tax profit of $ 10 billion to $ 11 billion it previously forecast.

The company held on to previous forecasts that the chip shortage could reduce $ 1.5 billion to $ 2 billion from this year’s earnings.

Stellantis said on Wednesday it expects the deficit to take a bigger bite out of production in the second quarter and warned the disruption could last until 2022. %.

Ford said last week that it expects vehicle production to be cut in half by the deficit in the second quarter.

During the shortage, GM prioritized its highest-profit cars, including the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC pickups.

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Thanks to high consumer demand that has driven up prices, the focus on those high-margin models contributed $ 3.2 billion to GM’s first-quarter profit before tax.

GM posted net income of $ 3 billion, or $ 2.03 per share, in the first quarter, compared to $ 294 million or 17 cents a share a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned $ 2.25 per share, well above analyst expectations of $ 1.04 per share.

Sales in the quarter decreased slightly from $ 32.7 billion to $ 32.5 billion. Analysts had expected revenue to be flat at $ 32.7 billion.