AOL Money & Finance

General Motors (GM) earnings preview: You gotta' have heart

General Motors LogoTo me, General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) is beginning to take on the persona of Rocky Balboa, the consummate tough guy who is winning against all odds. Forget for a moment who sells more autos and just look at all the smart work it has taken to get GM this far in the struggle to effectively manufacture and market automobiles. Take a contrasting look at the last few week's announcements from America's auto manufacturing block. Take a look at the news about Ford (NYSE: F) and Chrysler in contrast to what you hear about GM. It is my opinion that of those three, GM is the only company which has a realistic grasp on what it must do to survive and regrow.

General Motors posted 2007 second-quarter adjusted net income, excluding special items, of $1.4 billion, or $2.48 per diluted share, compared to $1.1 billion, or $2.03 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. However, bear in mind that while GM increased its market share over 9% outside of North America, it's global market share was down 0.4%, meaning that there was a decline in the number of vehicles sold at home. Current analyst consensus is a quiet hold on GM. I would take that position also, but overall I expect GM shares to move steadily upward as company outlook improves.

A trending comparison between GM and its peers shows that the company has much work to do. Within its own fiscal history, the company looks respectable, but among the industry leaders they're not yet getting it done. I do see GM getting leaner, fitter, and more aggressive, the type of thing needed in today's manufacturing climate. I hold very high hopes for Chevy Volt, and I opine that GM has a business plan that features long-range vision encompassed in the high-quality execution of timely and desirable engineering.

Analysts are providing an average EPS estimate of $0.32 for Q3 2007, then their estimates begin to rise for Q42007 and remain steady going forward. I'm looking for earnings to be reported in the range of $0.41 to $0.45, and a bit more wouldn't surprise me based on what I've read, seen, and heard.

Get the latest on cars and trucks
from Ford and all brands at AOL Autos.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+20.0310,246.97
NASDAQ-2.982,151.08
S&P 500-0.071,093.01

Last updated: November 10, 2009: 06:53 PM

BloggingStocks Exclusives

Hot Stocks

Learn More About Ford Cars

Find Your Next Car

AOL Autos New Cars and Used Cars

DailyFinance Headlines

Latest from BloggingBuyouts

TheFlyOnTheWall.com Headlines

BioHealth Investor Headlines

WalletPop Headlines

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance

WalletPop Headlines