General Motors (NYSE: GM) reported its earnings for the second quarter of 2022 this morning. The automaker stated that its net income sank 40 percent during Q2 compared to the same quarter in 2021 due to major parts shortages and production bottlenecks. The Detroit-based GM remains committed to its outlook for the full year, affirming its profitability goals for 2022.
GM CEO Mary Barra said the company already has taken steps to re-establish healthy cash flow. Inflation and other situations, like parts shortages, especially for chips, have caused GM to rescramble its strategies to offset an increasingly difficult year.
“We’ve slowed down some hiring, and we have put off some costs and expenses we were going to make going into this year to try to balance that out with the pressure we’ve seen from both inflation as well as some of the other supply-chain challenges,” CFO Paul Jacobson said.
Barra said GM was expecting a tough quarter, but not something as severe as what occurred. However, the automaker remains prepared for every scenario, she said.
“We have modeled several downturn scenarios, and we are prepared to take more deliberate action when and if necessary,” Barra said during a call.
General Motors saw major bottlenecks with chips, an issue that reached its peak in June. Barra expects the chip shortage to last into 2023.
GM reported a net income of $1.7 billion, or $1.14 per share, which missed analyst expectations of $1.20 per share. GM did beat revenue expectations as it reported $35.76 billion. Analysts expected $33.58 billion. GM’s adjusted EBIT came in at $2.34 billion, whereas GM reported an adjusted EBIT of $4.12 billion in Q2 2021.
The dicey financials are not necessarily an indication that GM will be struggling for very long. Jacobson reaffirmed that GM has a lot of demand for its vehicles. The automaker stated it had 90,000 vehicles in inventory that were simply incomplete due to missing parts. However, Jacobson maintained that the vehicles will be delivered by the end of the year.
The company has agreements with several suppliers, and a report from Reuters yesterday stated GM would receive $3.5 billion in government loans for battery production. However, the company has pushed for higher production of its electric vehicles but has not broken through with major manufacturing of its EVs yet.
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“It’s time to walk the walk and not just talk the talk for GM, as patience is wearing thin on the Street around the name,” Dan Ives of Wedbush said.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is not a GM Shareholder.
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