GM Q2 2020 Earnings: $2.6 Billion Loss Expected For COVID-Ridden Quarter

July 28, 2020 5:18 pm

General Motors is scheduled to report its second quarter 2020 earnings on Wednesday, July 29^th. Here’s a preview of analyst expectations and the various factors to look out for in GM Q2 2020 financial results.

Analyst consensus peg GM’s EPS (Earnings Per Share) of -$1.76, which compares to a (positive) $1.64 in the second quarter of 2019. EBIT-adjusted is consensed to be a loss of $2.66 billion, compared to a profit $3.08 billion year-over-year. The consensus revenue estimate is $16.93B, which would represent a 53 percent drop on a year-over-year basis.

However, it’s worth noting that GM has beaten analyst Earnings Per Share estimates 100 percent of the time over the past two years. It has also beaten revenue estimates 75 percent of the time. The last time that took place was in Q1 2020, when GM reported $0.3 billion in income on $32.7 billion in revenue, making it the only U.S.-based automaker to post a profit and beat analyst consensus.

GM production was down for roughly two months during Q2 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, factories were closed for two months in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. GM plants in China closed earlier, and as a result re-opened a few weeks earlier. The closure of the North American plants resulted in sub-par inventories, particularly on the vehicles most in-demand, such as GM pickup trucks.

GM Q2 2020 U.S. sales were off 34 percent to 492,489 units in the COVID-ridden nation. Q2 2020 GM China sales were down 5.3 percent – a sign that things are returning to normal, while serving as an indicator for what could take place in the U.S. during Q3. Comments by GM leadership surrounding the COVID pandemic will be the most important part of the report tomorrow.

Other elements to watch for during the GM Q2 2020 earnings report will be the automaker’s progress regarding electric vehicles. GM claims that development and associated launch timelines were not impacted by the virus.

We’ll be here bright and early tomorrow to report on GM Q2 2020 financial results, so be sure to visit back or subscribe to GM Authority for more GM financial news, GM business news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.