General Motors reports strong first-quarter profits as prices help offset small US sales dip

DETROIT (AP) — Despite a small dip in U.S. vehicle sales, General Motors' first-quarter net income rose more than 25% on strong deliveries of pickup trucks and other higher-profit vehicles.

The automaker said that while its average sales price per vehicle was down slightly from last year at just under $50,000, pickup sales remained strong, and it's not seeing the price erosion across its lineup that other companies have experienced.

GM on Tuesday said it made $2.97 billion from January through March, with revenue increasing 7.6% over the same period a year ago to just over $43 billion. That topped the $41.15 billion that analysts polled by FactSet were calling for.

Excluding one-time items the company made $2.62 per share, easily beating Wall Street estimates of $2.13 per share.

Dan Ives of Wedbush said in a note to clients that GM delivered a solid performance as it concentrates on profitability and managing expenses.

“This was a major ‘prove me’ quarter for GM and shows the long awaited turnaround now appears to be underway for Barra & Co.,” he wrote, referring to CEO Mary Barra.

GM's better-than-forecast prices also allowed the company to raise its full year net income guidance slightly to a range of $10.1 billion to $11.5 billion, up from $9.8 billion to $11.2 billion. Adjusted 2024 earnings per share guidance rose to a range of $9 to $10 from $8.50 to $9.50.

Analysts are looking for earnings of $8.89 per share for the year.

Shares of the company, which is planning to move its Detroit headquarters to a new downtown office building next year, jumped more than 5% in early morning trading.

Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said prices dropped a little because GM sold a higher share of lower-cost vehicles such as the Chevrolet Trax small SUV, which starts at $21,495 including shipping. “The portfolio as a whole has been pretty strong,” he said, noting that pickup truck sales were up 3% in the U.S.

The company still has assumed that prices will drop 2% to 2.5% for the full year, but has not seen the decline yet, Jacobson said.

Retail sales of electric vehicles rose during the quarter, and GM is producing more of its own batteries, he said. The company is on track to hit a mid single-digit profit margin on EVs next year.

CEO Mary Barra, in a letter to shareholders, said that GM is seeing “good early sales momentum” for vehicles like the Cadillac LYRIQ, an electric SUV. The company has also benefited from a significant drop in the cost of battery cells and lower raw material prices, she added.

GM's battery module production is up 300% over the past six months. Barra says the company projects doubling its current capacity by the end of the summer.

“Improving module availability is enabling higher vehicle production, which we believe will help us win even more new customers in the growing U.S. EV market,” she said.

Jacobson noted during GM's conference call that adjusting pricing on its 2024 Blazer EV has been well received by dealers and customers.

During the quarter, the company made $3.84 billion before taxes in North America, but lost $10 million in its international operations, including a $106 million loss in China.

Barra said that there have been challenges with China over the last several years, including the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues, but that GM remains committed to the country long term.

“We believe that it's a market that over the medium term will have substantial growth,” she added.

The automaker's troubled Cruise autonomous vehicle unit lost $519 million pretax as it tries to recover from a serious crash and allegations of a cover-up in California. Barra said Cruise, which had suspended testing and robotaxi rides after losing its California license, returned to testing in Phoenix to update mapping and gather road information.

Jacobson said that full-year expenses for Cruise at anticipated to be around $1.7 billion.

Michelle Chapman in New York contributed to this report.

FILE - In this April 23, 2018, file photo, the logo for General Motors appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. General Motors reports earnings on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to weigh a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten said the wording the legislative council suggested is “packed with emotion and partisan meaning” and asked for what he called more “neutral” language. The measure aims to expand abortion access from 15 weeks to 24 weeks – the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.

It would allow exemptions to save the woman’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. It would also prevent the state from adopting or enforcing laws that would forbid access to the procedure.

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, who is a co-chair of the legislative council, said the group will appeal the court’s decision to the state Supreme Court.

“The ruling is just plain wrong and clearly partisan,” said Toma, a Republican.

Aaron Thacker, communications director for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, noted that the final decision on the ballot itself remains in the air.

“There’s still a lot of scenarios at play," he said. "Even after the secretary certifies the signatures, the courts have to decide if counties can put it on the ballot or not."

Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization leading the ballot measure campaign, sued the council earlier this month over the suggested language and advocated for the term “fetus,” which the council rejected.

Attorney General Kris Mayes wrote in a motion to submit an amicus brief that “fetus" and “pregnancy” are both neutral terms that the council could adopt.

“It’s incredibly important to us that Arizona voters get to learn more about and weigh our measure in objective and accurate terminology,” said Dawn Penich, communications director for the abortion access group.

Democrats have centered abortion rights in their campaigns in this year’s elections. Organizers in five other states have also proposed similar measures that would codify abortion access in their state constitutions: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.

Arizona organizers submitted more than double the amount of signatures needed for the measure to appear on the ballot.

FILE - Arizona abortion-rights supporters deliver over 800,000 petition signatures to the capitol to get abortion rights on the November general election ballot July 3, 2024, in Phoenix. A judge on Friday, July 26, rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to decide on a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)