Detroit’s General Motors Co. reported first-quarter 2021 revenue of $32.5 billion, down slightly year-over-year from $32.7 billion in 2020. The company’s earnings were driven by strong price and mix performance in North America, strong credit and residual performance at GM Financial, and the industry recovery in China.
The company says it is confident in its full-year 2021 guidance outlined earlier this year as it works to manage through the semiconductor shortage, which is impacting automakers around the world.
Based on information available today, the company expects to be at the higher-end of the earnings before interest and tax (EBIT)-adjusted range for 2021.
“These strong results demonstrate once again the underlying strength of our business, especially in North America and China, and at GM Financial,” says Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of GM, in a letter to shareholders. “We continue to execute our strategy and make significant progress on our transition to an all-electric future with the growth opportunities it creates.
“The speed and agility of our team are front and center as we move from managing through a pandemic to managing the global semiconductor shortage. This remains a challenging period for the company as we emerge from 2020, but the team continues to demonstrate its ability to manage complex situations.”
For the first quarter of 2021, net income was $3 billion, and EBIT-adjusted income was $4.4 billion. For the same time in 2020, these numbers were $300 million and $1.2 billion, respectively.
In 2021, the company reported a net income margin of 9.3 percent and an EBIT-adjusted margin of 13.6 percent. In 2020, the net income margin was 0.9 percent, and the EBIT-adjusted margin was 3.8 percent.
Automotive operating cash flow saw a drop of $1.1 billion in 2021, and adjusted automotive free cash flow saw a drop of $1.9 billion. In 2020, these numbers were $300 million and a loss of $900 million.
In the first quarter of 2021, GM North America’s EBIT-adjusted was $3.1 billion with an EBIT-adjusted margin of 12.1 percent. GM International EBIT-adjusted was $300 million, including China Equity Income of $300 million. GM Financial EBIT-adjusted was $1.2 billion.
EPS-diluted was $2.03, and EPS-diluted-adjusted was $2.25 for the first quarter of 2021. In the first quarter of 2020, these numbers were $0.17 and $0.62, respectively.
In its 2021 guidance, the company announced it expected full-year net income of between $6.8 billion and $7.6 billion and EBIT-adjusted between $10 billion and $11 billion.
Six months ending June 30, 2021, net income is expected to be about $3.5 billion, while EBIT-adjusted is expected to be about $5.5 billion.
