General Motors finished the fourth quarter on a stronger note than many expected. The company made more profit than Wall Street had predicted. This gave investors some relief. GM also rewarded shareholders and said the coming year should stay steady.
At the same time, the numbers showed a painful side. Pulling back from electric vehicle plans cost the company a lot. Fixing its China business also added pressure. These moves led to very large one time expenses.
GM earned $2.51 per share in the fourth quarter. Analysts were expecting around $2.20. That was a clear win. Revenue reached $45.29 billion. This was slightly lower than what the market had hoped for. The softer revenue showed that the global car market is still under stress. Still, higher profits showed GM controlled costs better and ran operations more carefully.
On an adjusted basis, the company made $2.8 billion before interest and taxes. But the final results looked worse. Heavy one time charges pushed GM into a net loss even though the core business performed well.
GM reported a net loss of $3.3 billion for the quarter. This was mainly due to more than $7.2 billion in special charges. Most of this came from cutting back on electric vehicle plans and restructuring its China operations. The company had already warned investors about most of these charges earlier.
There were other costs too. Legal issues linked to OnStar and airbags added $357 million. A recent headquarters move cost $5 million. The shutdown of the Cruise robotaxi unit added another $133 million. GM said it is now taking a harder look at which products truly make sense. The company appears more cautious about going all in on electric vehicles.
Despite the loss, GM sounded confident about the future. For 2026, the company expects net income between $10.3 billion and $11.7 billion. It also forecast adjusted operating profit between $13 billion and $15 billion. Earnings per share are expected to land between $11 and $13. This lines up closely with what analysts are predicting.
GM said it will keep investing but with more discipline. Spending is expected to stay between $10 billion and $12 billion.
For 2025, GM reported net income of $2.7 billion. That equals $3.27 per share. Adjusted operating profit reached $12.7 billion. Free cash flow from its auto business came in at $10.6 billion.
The board also approved a new $6 billion share buyback. The quarterly dividend was raised by 3 cents to 18 cents per share. This marks a 20% increase. GM has been steadily reducing its share count. By the end of last year, shares outstanding fell to 904 million. This was down from 995 million a year earlier and far below 1.2 billion at the end of 2023.
Management says fewer shares help boost earnings per share and long term value for investors.
