General Motors shares rally on Q2 results, outlook

Today’s headlines

What’s happening: Shares of General Motors surged on Tuesday after the company released its second-quarter results.

What happened: The automaker reported better-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter on Tuesday.

GM also raised its adjusted earnings forecast for the full year amid rising demand for pickup trucks and SUVs.

How were the results: The Detroit, Michigan-based company reported low single-digit sales growth for the second quarter.

• Revenues grew 1.9% year-over-year to $48.03 billion, topping consensus estimates of $47.01 billion.
• Adjusted diluted earnings came in at $3.57 per share, ahead of Wall Street expectations of $3.20 per share.

Why it matters: General Motors indicated that demand for its most profitable vehicles continues to remain strong, despite the economy facing issues like higher gas prices, inflation and slowdown in jobs growth.

GM North America adjusted EBIT jumped 42.7% to $3.45 billion during the latest quarter, while adjusted margin expanded to 8.6%, amid upbeat demand for pickup trucks and SUVs.

The company continues to be the top-selling US automaker, commanding a share of around 43% in the full-size pickup market.

The company’s international adjusted EBIT contracted 6.6% to $190 million due to shipping concerns in the Middle East. GM’s China joint ventures generated an equity income of $83 million, up 16.9% year-on-year, and recorded profits for the seventh straight quarter.

GM’s wholesale vehicle volume climbed to 990,000 from 974,000 in the year-ago period, while worldwide deliveries fell 7.2% to 1.43 million vehicles.

The company also remained the second-ranked seller of electric vehicles in the US. GM recorded EV-related charges of $10.9 billion since the second half of 2025.

Management raised their 2026 adjusted earnings forecast to $12-$14 per share, from their previous outlook of $11.50-$13.50 per share. The company also raised its adjusted EBIT outlook to $14-$16 billion, from $13.5-$15.5 billion.

The company cut its GAAP diluted earnings forecast to $8.98-$10.98 per share, from $10.62-$12.62 per share.

How shares responded: GM’s stock jumped 4.9% to close at $79.52 on Tuesday following the release of quarterly results. The stock has lost around 1% over the past month.

What to watch: Investors will keep an eye on upcoming launches by the company, with the next-gen Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups expected to arrive in showrooms this December.

The markets today

The Japanese yen in focus today ahead of a basket of major economic reports this week

Context: The Japanese yen hovered around an almost four-decade low against the US dollar this morning.

Details: Data released this morning showed that Japan reported a trade deficit of ¥406.9 billion in June, versus a year-ago surplus of ¥122.3 billion. The figure was much worse than market expectations of a deficit of ¥120 billion.

Japan recorded a trade gap for the second straight month, with imports outpacing exports. Imports jumped 25.4% year-over-year to a record ¥11,335.9 billion, following May’s 12.5% growth. This marked the strongest surge since November 2022. Exports rose 19.3% to a three-month high of ¥10,929.0 billion, exceeding market estimates of 18.6% gain.

Investors continued assessing rising tensions between the US and Iran, which sent crude oil prices higher, reigniting inflationary concerns and exerting pressure on the Japanese yen.

Weakness in the US dollar lent some support to the Japanese currency this morning. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of major peers, edged lower to 101.13.

The USD/JPY forex pair hovered close to 163 this morning. The yen hitting its lowest in 39 years lent support to Japanese stocks. The Nikkei 225 jumped 1.93% to trade at 67,511.12 this morning, while TOPIX climbed around 1.25% to 4,065.33.

What to watch: Investors will continue monitoring developments in the US-Iran conflict and their impact on crude prices.

Data on inflation rate, S&P Global manufacturing PMI and S&P Global services PMI from Japan will be released on Friday. Japan’s annual inflation rate, which rose to 1.5% in May from 1.4% in the previous month, is expected to accelerate further to 1.7% in June. Analysts expect the S&P Global manufacturing PMI to decline to 54.3 in July from 54.8 in June, while services PMI business activity index is projected to rise to 53 in July from 52.2 in the previous month.

Other Markets: European indices closed higher on Tuesday, with FTSE 100, DAX 40, CAC 40 and STOXX Europe 600 Index up by 0.58%, 0.66%, 0.28% and 0.56%, respectively.

The news shaping the markets

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi as the country’s commander-in-chief after firing Oleksandr Syrskii. The news sent the USD/RUB pair lower in forex trading this morning.

Australia’s Westpac-Melbourne Institute leading economic index came in flat for June, recovering from a 0.1% decline in May, which lent support to the AUD/USD forex pair.

Colombia’s trade deficit contracted to $1.59 billion in May, from $1.78 billion in the year-ago month. However, the USD/COP pair rose in forex trading this morning.

Mexico’s retail sales grew 1.6% year-over-year in May. This being a deceleration from the previous month’s 4.4% growth lent support to the USD/MXN forex pair.

Eurozone’s ZEW indicator of economic sentiment improved by 13.9 points to 23.4 in June. The latest reading being the highest in five months sent the EUR/USD pair higher in forex trading this morning.

What else to watch today

South Africa’s inflation rate (1200 UAE Time) and retail sales (1500 UAE Time), US MBA mortgage applications (1500 UAE Time), EIA crude oil stocks change (1830 UAE Time), EIA gasoline stocks change (1830 UAE Time) and EIA heating oil stocks change (1830 UAE Time), Russia’s industrial production (2000 UAE Time) and PPI (2000 UAE Time) as well as Argentina’s economic activity (2300 UAE Time).