General Motors CFO on recession risk: We see ‘continued strength’
There has been plenty of talk of a potential recession — or not — among CEOs and top execs.
Bank of America (BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan told Yahoo Finance he sees a mild recession this year. Conversely, American Express (AXP) CEO Stephen Squeri said he isn't expecting a recession.
Put General Motors (GM) CFO in Squeri's camp after a big quarter for the auto giant.
“There’s a lot of cause for concern in the market generally, but what we've seen from our customers for demand for our new products, for the credit portfolio at GM Financial, is continued strength," Jacobson told Yahoo Finance (video above) when asked if he was spotting recessionary signals.
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An American flag flies at a Chevrolet dealership on August 4, 2021 in Glendale, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Jacobson added that sales in December were strong and that trend has stretched into January.
The bullish comments come as the automaker reported that profit jumped in the fourth quarter, driven by record revenue and strong demand.
For the full year, the company reported profits of $14.5 billion, near the high end of its forecast.
Here is how GM performed compared to Wall Street estimates:
Net Sales: $43.1 billion vs. $40 billion expected
Adjusted EPS: $2.12 vs. $1.69 expected
For 2023, GM is forecasting adjusted EBIT of $10.5 billion-$12.5 billion, and adjusted EPS of $6.00-$7.00. Analysts had been expecting $5.70 a share.
GM stock popped by 7% during Tuesday's session, and the company's ticker page was the most visited on Yahoo Finance.
"The company came out swinging and delivered an exceptionally strong performance on the top and bottom line, further showing that demand is still strong and the shift to EV is increasingly underway," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a client note.
Ives reiterated an Outperform rating on GM's stock.
Yahoo Finance's Pras Subramanian contributed to this story.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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