General Motors Co. in Detroit today announced its board of directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $6 billion of the company’s outstanding common stock.
“The investments GM made in its brands and product portfolio over the last several years, and the company’s operating discipline, are delivering consistently strong revenue growth, margins and free cash flow,” says Paul Jacobson, executive vice president and chief financial officer at GM.
“We are very focused on the profitability of our ICE (internal combustion engine) business, we’re growing and improving the profitability of our EV business, and deploying our capital efficiently. This allows us to continue returning cash to shareholders.”
In November 2023, GM announced a $10 billion accelerated share repurchase, while continuing to have approximately $1.4 billion in remaining capacity under its prior share repurchase authorization. In the first quarter of 2024, GM repurchased $0.3 billion in shares, and the company expects to exhaust the remaining $1.1 billion of the prior authorization before the end of the second quarter.
The new authorization will allow the company to opportunistically repurchase shares after the completion of the existing reauthorization.
In addition to continuing shareholder returns through share repurchases, GM increased its common stock dividend 33 percent, from $0.09 to $0.12 per share, in the first quarter.
GM will report its second quarter financial results on July 23, 2024, at 6:30 a.m. ET.
In Related News: GM is promoting Baris Cetinok and Dave Richardson to head its software and services organization as the company advances in electric, autonomous, and connected vehicles.
Since joining GM in September 2023, Cetinok and Richardson have played “significant” roles in building the vehicle operating and digital systems, enhancing quality testing and validation processes, and laying the foundation for software to become a central component of GM’s customer experience.
“GM’s journey toward a tech-forward future is clearer than ever, thanks to the exceptional talent within our team and the leadership of Baris and Dave,” says Mary Barra, chair and CEO of GM. “They bring energy and vision, combined with extensive technical and management experience, that will continue to strengthen our software engineering and product teams. These elevated roles will ensure continuity, speed, and quality as software becomes even more central to the vehicle.”
As senior vice president of Software and Services Product Management, Program Management, and Design, Cetinok will oversee the teams responsible for the company’s software roadmap design and the process for software program development, launch, and continual improvement.
As senior vice president of Software and Services Engineering, Richardson is expanding his current role to lead all of software engineering inclusive of areas like embedded platforms, digital products, commercial solutions, and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). Both will work in close collaboration with GM’s vehicle design and hardware engineering organizations.
Cetinok brings more than 25 years of experience in product, engineering, and design at companies including Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple. As senior director of product management at Apple, he launched Apple Pay, Apple Cash, Apple Card, and iCloud services such as Photos, Drive, and Find My. Cetinok also played a leadership role in the development of Microsoft Office and Amazon Payments in AWS.
Richardson spent 12 years at Apple where he was an engineering leader responsible for driving innovation and efficiency in infrastructure for Apple services including iCloud, FaceTime, and Siri. He was also co-founder and chief scientist at cloud computing company Skytap and was a founding advisor for online marketplace Dibspace. Richardson holds both a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Washington.
The former technology executives take over for Mike Abbott, who left GM in March 2024 due to health reasons. They will be based out of the new GM Mountain View Technical Center in California.
