GM

February Auto Roundup

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Let’s take a look at February auto sales, which appear to have come in at a SAAR around 15.4 million units. Ford Best Ideas Newsletter holding Ford (click ticker for report: ) posted a solid February, selling 195,822 vehicles—a 9% increase compared to the same month a year ago. We think the number is even more impressive considering February 2012 had fairly good weather, while February 2013 was viciously cold and snowy for much of the United States. Strength was broad based, though utilities (up 21%) greatly outperformed both cars and trucks, which were up 6% and 4% year-over-year, respectively. Both the Edge (up 29%) and Explorer (up 59%) were hot sellers during February, possibly the result of a cold … Read more

GM’s Fourth Quarter Narrowly Misses the Mark

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Automaker General Motors (click ticker for report: ) announced solid fourth quarter results Thursday morning. Revenue rose 3% year-over-year to $39.3 billion, slightly exceeding consensus estimates. Earnings jumped 23% year-over-year to $0.48 (adjusted) per share, slightly below consensus expectations (Image Source: GM). Unlike competitor Ford (click ticker for report: ), GM continues to struggle with respect to profitability in North America. Sales grew 5% year-over-year to $24.2 billion, but operating margins declined 70 basis points to 5.8%, resulting in lower quarterly EBIT on a year-over-year basis. We’re not surprised, and we’ve speculated that the company might be putting too much inventory into dealer channels. GM reconciled the results (shown below), but it’s important to note that in the US, GM … Read more

January Auto Sales Roundup

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Auto sales were off to a brisk start in 2013, posting a SAAR for the month of 15.3 million units—maintaining the strong pace we saw near the end of 2012 and up 14% year-over-year. Let’s take a look at how the major US auto OEMs performed. Ford Best Ideas Newsletter holding and standout performer Ford (click ticker for report: ) announced fantastic sales figures for January. Total unit sales jumped 22% year-over-year to 166,501 vehicles, and retail sales jumped 24% year-over-year. Brand strength was pretty broad based, with unit sales of the F-series up 22%, the Fusion up 65%, and the Explorer up 45%. Company-wide car sales jumped 34%, outpacing utility vehicles and trucks, which increased 23% and 11%, respectively. Unfortunately, the … Read more

December Auto Sales Roundup

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December auto sales were reported by the major US auto manufacturers Thursday, and it appears the monthly SAAR was somewhere between 15.4 and 15.6 million units. Let’s dig into the results. Ford Best Idea Newsletter holding Ford (click ticker for report: ) has been on a tear since reporting a record operating margin in North America during its most recent quarter. Shares are up 35% during the past three months, and December’s results were another positive for the automaker. Company-wide unit sales grew 1.9% compared to the same period last year, driven by a 2.5% unit gain at the Ford brand, but hurt by a unit decline of 12% at Lincoln. For the year, unit sales in the US grew … Read more

GM Repurchasing Two Hundred Million Shares from the US

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Wednesday morning, US auto giant General Motors (click ticker for report: ) announced that it will repurchase 200 million shares from the US government for $5.5 billion. The US government also announced that it will sell its remaining 300 million shares opportunistically over the next 12-15 months. The sale will leave the US with a loss, but for the purpose of investing, the loss means little to us. Though the price GM will pay—approximately $27.50 per share—exceeds the current market value, it is still lower than our median fair value estimate. More importantly, however, it removes the worry (overhang) that the government-owned shares would be dumped on the market, putting downward pressure on the share price. We like the move for both reasons, … Read more

November Auto Sales Roundup

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November auto sales were strong across the board, with the SAAR expected to be around 15.2 million units. Let’s take a look at performance on an individual company basis. Ford Best Ideas Newsletter holding Ford (click ticker for report: ) healthily exceeded its consensus sales growth forecast of 3.5% unit growth, with sales expanding 6.5% during November and retail sales growing 12%. Total small car units surged 76% year-over-year, making it Ford’s best November small car performance in 12 years. Utilities and trucks units lagged cars, growing 2% and 3.7%, respectively, compared to 15.2% growth in total car sales. Although performance was boosted due to sales being pulled into November as a result of Sandy, we thought the results were good, … Read more

Toyota’s North American Success Translates to a Strong Second Quarter

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Global automaker Toyota (click ticker for report: ) reported strong second quarter results Monday morning. Revenues surged 18% year-over-year to ¥5.4 trillion, relatively strong given the considerable weakness in sales to China during September and October. Operating income increased over three-fold to a better-than-expected ¥257.9 billion. The company lapped smaller numbers in the second quarter due to weakness in the supply chain during the first half of fiscal year 2012. Still, Toyota continues to sell more products and outpace competitors, particularly in North America. Operating income in the region jumped 350% year-over-year. Europe remains a smaller portion of the overall business mix than Japan and North America, but we think the company is well positioned to gain market share as … Read more

October Auto Sales Were a Tad Light; We’re Not Worried

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After Ford (click ticker for report: ) and General Motors (click ticker for report: ) posted fantastic third quarter results, industry-wide auto sales came in slightly lighter than expected in October, as many cite Hurricane Sandy as hurting industry-wide unit sales by as many as 300,000 units. Let’s take a look at a few companies. Ford Best Ideas Newsletter holding Ford announced an excellent quarter on Tuesday, and shares have rallied since trading resumed Wednesday. The firm’s October results were decent, with sales growing 0.4% year-over-year (retail up 2%), but they came in below consensus estimates of 3.5% expansion. More pressing, Alan Mulally confirmed that he will remain CEO until “at least” 2014, but President Mark Fields was promoted to … Read more

General Motors Reports A Fantastic Third Quarter

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American automaker General Motors (click ticker for report: ) reported fantastic third quarter results Wednesday morning. The firm shrugged off European weakness to grow revenue 2.5% year-over-year to $37.6 billion, nearly $2 billion better than consensus estimates, even though it was negatively impacted by $1 billion of currency fluctuations. Earnings were also much better than expected, falling 9% year-over-year to $0.93—about $0.28 higher than consensus expectations. EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) actually ticked up $100 million to $2.3 billion, so if it wasn’t for higher tax rates, earnings would have been comparable to last year. Though revenue in North America grew 7% year-over-year to $23.3 billion, EBIT in the region tumbled 17% to $1.7 billion. Operating margins fell substantially, … Read more