General Motors Beats on EPS But GAAP Results Lag

General Motors (NYS: GM) reported earnings on July 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), General Motors met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded slightly. Non-GAAP earnings per share dropped. GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly.

Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
General Motors booked revenue of $38.24 billion. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated revenue of $38.35 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.84. The 18 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.76 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.84 for Q2 were 6.7% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.90 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.75 for Q2 were 17% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.90 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 12.0%, 40 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 4.5%, 30 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.6%, 130 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $39.25 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.98.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $155.17 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.32.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 864 members out of 1,075 rating the stock outperform, and 211 members rating it underperform. Among 225 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 190 give General Motors a green thumbs-up, and 35 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on General Motors is outperform, with an average price target of $40.33.

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