General Motors Company (GM Quick QuoteGM - Free Report) is slated to release first-quarter 2026 results on April 28, before market open. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter’s earnings per share (EPS) and revenues is pegged at $2.59 and $43.7 billion, respectively.

For the first quarter, the consensus estimate for General Motors’ earnings has moved up a penny over the past seven days. Its bottom-line estimates imply 6.83% decline from the year-ago reported numbers. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GM's quarterly revenues implies a year-over-year decline of 0.8%. The company's earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average negative surprise of 10.65%. This is depicted in the graph below:

General Motors Company Price and EPS Surprise

General Motors Company price-eps-surprise | General Motors Company Quote

Q4 Highlights

In the fourth quarter of 2025, General Motors reported adjusted earnings of $2.51 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.20. The bottom line also rose from the year-ago quarter’s $1.92. Revenues of $45.29 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $45.4 billion and fell from $47.71 billion recorded in the year-ago period.

Things to Note

General Motors is gaining strong momentum in its software and services business, which is becoming a key growth driver. In 2025, OnStar reached a record 12 million subscribers, including more than 620,000 Super Cruise users, reflecting nearly 80% year-over-year growth. OnStar Fleet subscriptions also climbed to two million, double that of any competing service.  The company expects Super Cruise revenues to be $400 million in 2026, up from $234 million in 2025. Rising subscriptions are likely to have boosted the company’s performance in the to-be-reported quarter.

However, General Motors' sales in the first quarter totaled 626,429 vehicles, down 9.7% compared with the same period a year earlier. Sales of its leading brands, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac declined 8.1%, 32.6%, 0.2% and 25.5% year over year, respectively. Lower deliveries are likely to have impacted the company’s top-line growth in the first quarter of 2026. 

Also, tariff-related costs remain a concern for General Motors despite recent mitigation efforts. In the fourth quarter, the company faced a gross tariff impact of $700 million, bringing the total for the year to $3.1 billion. GM expects gross tariff costs of approximately $3-$4 billion, slightly above 2025 levels due to an additional quarter of tariff exposure. For the first quarter of 2026, the company projects a gross tariff impact of about $750 million to $1 billion, higher than in the fourth quarter. The expected rise in tariff costs is likely to have hurt the company’s margin in the first quarter.

Let’s have a look at our estimates for GM’s segmental performance.

We expect GM North America (GMNA) revenues to be $36.2 billion, suggesting a rear-over-year decline of 3.1%. For GM International (GMI), we expect sales to be $3.07 billion, indicating an increase of 26.4% year over year. We project GM Financial sales to be $4.2 billion, suggesting a rise of 1.6% year over year.

Our estimate for the operating income of the GMNA segment is $3 billion, suggesting a decline of 8.5% year over year. We expect GMI's operating income to be $104 million, suggesting a rise 248.6% year over year. Our estimate for the GM Financial operating income is $745.6 million, suggesting a rise of 8.8% year over year.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for General Motors for the quarter to be reported, as it does not have the right combination of the two key ingredients. A positive Earnings ESP, combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold), increases the odds of an earnings beat. This is not the case here.

Earnings ESP: GM has an Earnings ESP of -2.78%. This is because the Most Accurate Estimate is pegged lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: It currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Stocks With the Favorable Combination

Here are a few players from the auto space that, per our model, have the correct ingredients to post an earnings beat this time.

Dana Incorporated (DAN Quick QuoteDAN - Free Report) is slated to release first-quarter 2026 results on April 29. The company has an Earnings ESP of +3.25% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Dana’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at 39 cents per share and $1.77 billion. 

Lear Corporation (LEA Quick QuoteLEA - Free Report) is scheduled to release first-quarter 2026 results on May 1. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.48% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lear’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at $3.37 per share and $5.84 billion, respectively. LEA surpassed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 14.26%.

Lucid Group, Inc. (LCID Quick QuoteLCID - Free Report) is slated to release first-quarter 2026 results on May 5. The company has an Earnings ESP of +2.51% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lucid’s to-be-reported quarter’s loss and revenues is pegged at $2.72 per share and $428.7 million. LCID missed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average negative surprise being 29.92%.