General Motors (NYSE: GM) reported its third-quarter 2026 results on Tuesday, October 20. Profits rose sharply from a year earlier, cash generation was strong, and the board approved a new $20 billion share buyback.
The quarter in numbers
Compared with the third quarter of 2025:
- Revenue: $50.0 billion, up 2.9% from $48.6 billion.
- Net income: $3.3 billion, up from $1.3 billion.
- Adjusted EBIT (operating profit excluding one-off items): $4.1 billion, up 21.6%.
- Adjusted earnings per share: $3.70, up 32% from $2.80.
- Adjusted automotive free cash flow: $5.9 billion, up 40%.
Margins improved too: adjusted EBIT margin rose to 8.2% from 6.9%.
North America carries the results
Almost all of the profit came from GM’s home market. GM North America earned $3.6 billion in adjusted EBIT, up 43%, with an 8.7% margin. The rest of the business was weaker:
- GM International earned only $28 million, down from $226 million.
- China equity income fell to $32 million from $80 million.
- GM Financial, the company’s lending arm, earned $668 million before tax, down 17%.
GM shipped 1.03 million vehicles to dealers worldwide, up from 977,000. In the U.S., however, its market share slipped to 16.1% from 16.8%, and deliveries fell about 6%, partly because the EV market has been smaller than expected and some models were discontinued.
The EV cost is shrinking
The charges GM is booking for reshaping its electric-vehicle plans were much smaller this quarter: $238 million, compared with $1.6 billion a year ago. Over the first nine months of 2026 these charges total $3.6 billion.
Updated outlook for 2026
GM narrowed its forecast for the full year and raised its cash-flow expectations:
| New guidance | Previous | |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted EBIT | $14.5–15.5 billion | $14.0–16.0 billion |
| Adjusted EPS | $12.75–13.75 | $12.00–14.00 |
| Adjusted automotive free cash flow | $11.5–12.5 billion | $9.5–11.5 billion |
Buybacks and dividend
GM has finished the $6 billion buyback announced in January 2026, and the board approved a new $20 billion program with no expiration date. Buybacks have already shrunk the share count a lot: 849 million shares at the end of September, down from 1.2 billion at the end of 2023.
The quarterly dividend stays at $0.18 per share, payable on December 17, 2026, to shareholders on record as of December 4.
Why it matters
GM shows that a traditional carmaker can still generate a lot of cash even while it slows down its EV push. Most of that money is going back to shareholders through buybacks. The weak spots are outside North America, and a slowly shrinking share of the U.S. market.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice.
