The bad news keeps piling up at General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), just in time for its April 28 earnings report.
Those numbers should provide something of a respite, with net income of $1.45 per share expected, and $1.51 hoped for, . That would be in line with the $6 per share of net income reported last year, and could even justify a hike in the 38-cent-per-share dividend.
But the bears remain in firm control of GM stock, which opened for trade April 26 at a price-to-earnings multiple of 5.67 and a dividend yield of 4.5%. That’s because bad news keeps raining down on the company, headlined by the U.S. Supreme Court saying it remains responsible for ignition switch faults that occurred long before its 2009 .
How Was the Play, Ms. Barra?
The bad news might remind some of the old Lincoln assassination joke, “other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
Consider:
Plaintiffs’ lawyers say that GM stock’s damages on the ignition switch issue could total $10 billion, nearly one-fifth of the company’s current market cap.
and in response GM laid off all 2,700 workers by text message. The company also has 79 dealers there employing 3,900 more people, and half the country’s parts supply market.
Hedge fund billionaire David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital is against the company, demanding a second class of stock to separate its dividend from its potential for capital appreciation. General Motors defended itself in .
Oh, and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) passed GM as the most valuable U.S. car company for a while this month.
Any Good News for GM Stock?
Not all the news is ridiculously horrible.
While March sales in the U.S. , they were
, to 256,444 units, and the company picked up market share. Our James Brumley calls the company “best of its breed.” Other analysts note that it’s “crushing” Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) despite and that February sales were better than expected, balancing out the bad news of March.
China remains strong for GM stock, with March sales of 345,448 vehicles, one-third more than in the U.S., and up 16% from the same period The company plans to launch up to by the end of the decade. Morningstar says its transformation to common car platforms is not yet complete and there is
GM is also doubling the size of Cruise Automation, its self-driving car unit in San Francisco, with The company is determined not to be left behind the moves toward self-driving and all-electric cars, where it is .
A Quiet Battleground for General Motors
These cross currents make GM a quiet battleground stock, with 23 analysts split between buy and hold recommendations, and one demanding you sell the shares.
If you’re bullish on the company’s long-term future, this might be a very good time to buy, as the shares are down 10% from the date of its last dividend payment. He likes the company’s plans to buy back $5 billion in shares this year, almost 10% of the current market cap.
The technical indicators are painting , and a lot of the news may be bad, but GM keeps selling cars in quantity, it’s on top of the changes within the industry, and it could yet prove the doubters wrong.
is a financial and technology journalist. He is the author of the political polemic available now at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at danablankenhorn@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at . As of this writing he owned no shares in companies mentioned in this article.
