GM Reports Strong Earnings but Falls Short of Wall Street Estimates

General Motors reported strong second-quarter earnings on Wednesday with a net income of $2.8 billion and raised its full-year profit forecasts. However, the company fell short of Wall Street earnings-per-share and revenue estimates, dragging the stock down 8% in midmorning trading, CNBC reported.
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GM’s second-quarter earnings were reduced by $1.3 billion in warranty recall costs, including $800 million related to the Chevrolet Bolt EV. The electric vehicle has been recalled twice in the past year due to fire risks, CNBC noted, most recently last month.
GM noted potential challenges going into the second half of the year due to the computer-chip shortage and rising commodity costs, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The company expects commodity costs to rise by $1.5 billion to $2 billion during the second half of the year and anticipates lower earnings from its financial arm, WSJ added. Inflation has led to the highest raw material cost per U.S. vehicle since 2011, reported Octane, citing data from a Bank of America Global Research report. The cost of raw materials has risen sharply since mid-2020.
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Chief executive Mary Barra said she expects GM will continue to deal with the semiconductor shortage into 2022. The WSJ, referring to estimates from AutoForecast Solutions, noted that GM had reduced production by 325,000 vehicles in North America so far this year because of the chip shortage. GM said in a Tuesday presentation that it would make about 100,000 fewer vehicles in North America in the second half of the year. The company has resorted to less popular chip models to keep production going.
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