General Motors (NYSE: GM) today posted better-than-expected second quarter earnings. In this most recent chapter in this comeback story, General Motors earned $2.48 per share on an adjusted basis. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.13. This is the company's third straight profitable quarter.

The strong numbers are not going unrewarded so far in the premarket. Early morning traders have pushed the stock up 6.0% in premarket trading with around another 30 minutes to go before the opening bell.

What a difference a year makes. I can remember seeing the writing on the wall of a complete collapse this time last year when the company threw up horrible 2006 second quarter numbers. Last year, when the company showed a loss of $3.4 billion, there were lots of questions floating around Wall Street as to whether or not the company was going to be able to pull itself back out of the hole it had dug for itself.

Well ... today is another big step in the right direction, but there is still work to be done in Detroit.

Despite the strong earnings, revenues still fell year-over-year. For this recent quarter, the company had revenues of $46.81 billion, which was down from last year's $53.9 billion. Another weak area that continues to linger over the head of GM executives is automaker's poor performance in the U.S. market, where once again it showed a loss from operations this quarter of $39 million.

The loss in North America, however, was counterbalanced by a strong quarter in its overseas markets where GM posted solid profits. In Europe, the company had net income of $217 million (compared to a $39 million loss last year). In its Asian Pacific markets GM had posted a net profit of $227. The company had its best quarter in over a decade in the Latin America, Africa and Middle East markets. In these markets the company boasted net income of $213 million.

All in all, it was a great quarter for the automaker, and it definitely looks like its turnaround program is working out as the company had hoped. The company's CFO, Fritz Henderson, stated that he remains confident the company is going to able to hit its target of $9 billion worth of annual cost cuts this year.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.