General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) saw its shares bolted soon after Tuesday’s opening, on reporting second-quarter earnings which beat expectations.
The car maker reported a better-than-expected quarterly net profit from continuing operations despite falling revenue and promised to cut production in the second half to curtail its burgeoning inventory of unsold vehicles.
GM reported second-quarter net income of $2.4 billion or $1.60 per share, down from $2.8 billion or $1.74 per share a year earlier. Excluding one-time charges, the company reported earnings per share of $1.89.
On that basis, analysts had on average expected earnings per share for the quarter of $1.69.
The company reported revenue for the quarter of $37 billion, down from $37.4 billion a year earlier and below the $40.1 billion expected by analysts.
The car maker expected to report quarterly earnings at $1.7 per share on revenue of $41.73 billion.
GM plans to cut North American production by 150,000 vehicles in the second half of 2017 compared to the first half, Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens told reporters on Tuesday.
Stevens said GM is on track to hit its target of reducing North American inventories to about 70 days of supply, and predicted that sales in the second half of the year would rise to help the company achieve that goal.
GM said it still expected to earn between $6 and $6.50 per share in 2017.
Shares in the auto giant gained 22 cents each, to $36.04, within a 52-week trading range of $29.82 to $38.55
