General Motors Beats on Q3 Profit but Narrows Its 2026 Outlook as Shares Slide

General Motors beat Wall Street’s profit estimates for the third quarter, authorized a fresh $20 billion buyback, and still watched its stock fall. Shares dropped about 9% in afternoon trading Tuesday, last changing hands at $75.35, down from Monday’s close of $82.75. The quarter was not the problem. The outlook was.

A quarter led by North America

GM reported $50.0 billion in revenue, up 2.9% from a year earlier. Net income attributable to stockholders reached $3.3 billion, more than double the $1.3 billion it earned in the same period of 2025. A sharp drop in charges tied to its EV strategy, to $238 million from $1.6 billion a year earlier, helped lift the reported figure. Adjusted earnings came to $3.70 a share, a cent above the $3.69 analysts had penciled in, and up from $2.80. Adjusted operating profit climbed about 22% to $4.1 billion. North America carried the result. The region’s adjusted margin widened to 8.7% from 6.2% a year earlier, and wholesale deliveries there rose to 870,000 vehicles from 840,000.

The top of the range came down

Then came guidance. GM narrowed its full-year adjusted earnings forecast to a range of $12.75 to $13.75 a share, from $12.00 to $14.00. It tightened its adjusted operating-profit outlook to $14.5 billion to $15.5 billion, from $14.0 billion to $16.0 billion. The floor moved up. The ceiling moved down. For a company that spent much of the year lifting its targets, cutting the top end signaled a limit on how strong 2026 can finish. Analysts pointed to rising input costs, from commodities to memory chips, as a weight on the margin outlook into next year.

A $20 billion buyback that did not lift the stock

The capital-return news was sizable. GM’s board approved a new $20 billion repurchase authorization with no expiration date, on top of the $6 billion program the company completed earlier this year. Its share count has already fallen to 849 million from 904 million at the end of 2025. GM also declared a quarterly dividend of 18 cents a share, payable December 17. Buybacks of that scale often lend support to a share price, yet GM’s shares fell regardless on Tuesday.

One session erased a month of ground

The drop stood out against GM’s recent trading. The stock closed at $83.95 a month ago and $81.50 three months back, so most of the decline landed in a single day. The selling was concentrated. Volume backed that up: more than 13 million shares traded by early afternoon, well above the stock’s recent daily average of about 7 million. GM still trades far above its 52-week low of $41.60, and it now sits roughly 18% under its 52-week high of $91.85.

U.S. share, 2027, and the January report

Management is steering investors toward 2027, which GM expects to top this year if demand holds. Market share is another thread to follow. GM’s slice of U.S. sales eased to 16.1% in the quarter, from 16.8% a year earlier, on volume of 671,000 vehicles. For the first nine months, its U.S. share stood at 16.4%, down from 17.1%. The next scheduled update is the fourth-quarter report in late January. Until then, the closing bell will show how much of Tuesday’s move holds.

This is a general-market summary for information only — not investment advice, and not a recommendation regarding any security.