GM Raises Profit Outlook After Strong First-Quarter Earnings Beat

General Motors raised its full-year profit outlook after a first-quarter earnings beat that showed U.S. buyers are still supporting the most lucrative corners of the auto market, even as tariff uncertainty, higher gasoline prices and a shakier economy hang over the industry. The company posted adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of $4.3 billion, or $3.70 a share, well above Wall Street’s estimate, and lifted its 2026 EBIT-adjusted guidance to $13.5 billion to $15.5 billion.

The strongest signal came from North America, where GM’s EBIT-adjusted margin improved to 10.1% from 8.8%. The company said it led the U.S. industry in full-size pickup sales with 42% market share, a critical advantage in a business where trucks and large SUVs generate outsized profits. Crossovers also strengthened the mix, growing from just over 40% of GM sales in 2023 to more than 46% in the first quarter of 2026, with Chevrolet Trax and Equinox, Buick Envista and GMC Terrain, along with Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia, contributing more meaningfully to profit.

That strength came even though GM’s U.S. sales totaled 626,429 vehicles, down 9.7% from a year earlier. The company said the comparison was distorted by an exceptionally strong March 2025 and by winter storms that hit January and February sales this year. In other words, the headline decline did not erase the underlying message: buyers are still showing up for profitable pickups, crossovers and SUVs.

The earnings were not clean. Net income fell 6% to $2.6 billion, pressured by a $1.1 billion charge tied to supplier claims linked to slower electric-vehicle programs. Revenue slipped to $43.6 billion. Even so, GM said the quarter’s adjusted profit exceeded expectations after excluding a $500 million tariff adjustment, and the new full-year guidance effectively bakes in the benefit of a refund GM expects after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the Trump administration’s tariff regime.

The policy backdrop matters because the relief is not immediate. U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened an online tariff-refund portal on April 20, and claims are expected to take 60 to 90 days to process. That leaves automakers balancing near-term cost pressure against the possibility of some reimbursement later in the year.

GM’s broader portfolio also helped. The company said China delivered its sixth consecutive profitable quarter, while other international markets improved year over year. Its earnings deck said paid Super Cruise subscribers were up about 70% from a year earlier, and GM expects to surpass 850,000 paid subscribers by year-end 2026, extending a high-margin software revenue stream that can soften the blow from slower vehicle volume. In a market still defined by cautious consumers and rising costs, GM’s latest numbers suggest the truck and SUV buyer has not disappeared, but the durability of that demand will be tested as tariffs, financing costs and EV spending pressures work through the system.