General Motors (GM) Tops Q3 EPS by 2c

General Motors (NYSE: GM) reported Q3 EPS of $0.97, $0.02 better than the analyst estimate of $0.95. Revenue for the quarter came in at $39.3 billion versus the consensus estimate of $39.52 billion.

"Strong global sales and growing margins in North America and China helped GM deliver very solid third quarter results,” said GM CEO Mary Barra. “Despite industry challenges in Russia and South America, our earnings were on plan as we continue to execute our customer-focused strategy.”

In the third quarter of 2013, GM’s net income attributable to common stockholders was $0.7 billion, or $0.45 per diluted share, which included a net loss from special items that reduced net income attributable to common stockholders by $0.9 billion, or $(0.51) per diluted share.

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) adjusted was $2.3 billion and included the impact of $0.2 billion in restructuring costs for actions taken in GM Europe. This compares to the third quarter of 2013, when the company recorded EBIT-adjusted of $2.6 billion, which included $0.1 billion in restructuring costs.

Cash Flow and Liquidity

For the quarter, automotive cash flow from operating activities was $0.7 billion and automotive free cash flow adjusted was $(0.8) billion, which was down from $1.3 billion a year ago. The decline in automotive free cash flow adjusted was primarily related to one extra weekly payment cycle to suppliers during the quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago, and cash payments related to repairing recalled vehicles, including costs to expedite parts to dealers.

GM ended the quarter with total automotive liquidity of $36.6 billion. Automotive cash and marketable securities was $26.1 billion compared with $28.4 billion for the second quarter of 2014.

“Strong performance in North America, where we achieved a 9.5 percent margin, anchored our overall results,” said Chuck Stevens, GM executive vice president and chief financial officer. “We remain focused on flawlessly launching key vehicles globally in the coming months, while delivering a positive experience for our customers.”

Key vehicle launches taking place in the fourth quarter include the recently introduced GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado mid-sized pickups in the U.S., the Cadillac ATS-L, Buick Envision and Chevrolet Cruze in China, and the Opel Corsa and ADAM ROCKS in Europe. The company also has introduced 4G LTE high-speed mobile broadband in 33 vehicles this year, more than the rest of the industry combined, and plans to introduce it on more than a dozen additional models by the end of 2015.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on General Motors (GM) click here.

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