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The value of GM stock fell during the August 2nd, 2021 to August 6th, 2021 timeframe, as compared to the stock’s closing value the week prior. Shares closed the week at $55.05 per share, which represents a decrease of $1.79 per share, or 3.15 percent, compared to the previous week’s closing value of $56.84.
By comparison, shares of GM’s cross-town rival, Ford Motor Company, decreased 1.07 percent, or $0.15, during the same timeframe.
GM stock value fell this week after a rise in value last week.
One of the biggest factors affecting GM stock value this week was the reporting of GM’s Q2 2021 financial results, which were headlined by $2.8 billion in income on $34.2 billion in revenue, beating expectations. The figures represent a 450-percent jump in income and 103-percent increase in revenue. However, earnings per share of $1.90 fell short of expectations, leading to a 8.9-percent fall in GM stock value before recovery of some of those losses by the end of the week.
Other factors affecting GM stock value include a slew of production delays stemming from the ongoing global microchip shortage. Affected facilities include San Luis Potosí in Mexico, Lansing Delta Township in Michigan, and Lansing Grand River in Michigan. GM’s pickup production is also affected.
Despite the setbacks, GM CEO Mary Barra has gone on record as saying the microchip shortage won’t impact GM’s forthcoming EV rollout. GM has also states it is committed to achieving the number one electric vehicle market share in North America.
In November, GM CEO Mary Barra shared the company’s plan to launch a total of 30 new electric vehicles globally by 2025, with a total investment of $7 billion. To put that in perspective, 40 percent of GM’s offerings will be fully electric by the end of 2025, compared to just three percent in 2021.
More recently, GM announced an increase in EV and AV investment, with a whopping $35 billion earmarked between now and 2025. Additionally, GM has announced an investment of $71 million for the new Advanced Design and Technology campus in Pasadena, and a cash infusion for AI vision software company Algolux.
General Motors recently posted a 34-percent sales gain for the Canadian market, as well as a 5-percent increase in China where GM just opened its expanded Advanced Design Center. However, Toyota outsold the General in the U.S. during the second quarter of the year, although by only 577 units.
General Motors also recently released its second-quarter sales, headlined by a 40-percent jump for GM sales in the U.S., with sales increasing for all four of GM’s U.S. brands.
GM previously reported first quarter sales for the 2021 calendar year, with an increase of 4 percent to 642,250 units in the U.S. market. Sales increased at Buick, Cadillac, and GMC brands, while sales decreased at Chevrolet.
Notably, the all-new 2021 Chevy Suburban and Chevy Tahoe dominated their segment in Q1, as did the all-new 2021 Cadillac Escalade.
GM previously reported Q1 2021 earnings, including $3 billion on $32.5 billion in revenue, a 900-percent jump in income and 0.6 percent decrease in revenue compared to Q1 of 2020. GM stated that the earnings were driven by strong price and mix performance in North America, as well as strong credit and residual value performance at GM Financial, and industry recovery in China.
GM stock values rose considerably in April, driven primarily by confirmation of an upcoming all-electric iteration of the popular Chevy Silverado pickup truck. GM stock value hit a record high of $63.44 per share following the announcement, surpassing the $64 mark the second week of June and setting a new record for the “new GM.”
In February, General Motors unveiled the refreshed 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and all-new 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV, expanding the automaker’s all-electric offerings.
GM’s luxury division, Cadillac, also debuted the CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing ultra-high-performance sedans in February. The new Blackwing sedans are hotly anticipated for their extreme levels of performance and refinement. Both models offer enthusiast-oriented specs and equipment. As GM Authority was first to report, preorders for the sedans opened in conjunction with the debut in February, with GM confirming that a $1,000 deposit is required for the first 500 preorders (250 units per model).
Much of the upward momentum in GM stock value seen in January is attributed to the automaker’s latest all-electric vehicle efforts, debuts, and strategy, which includes an in-depth presentation released during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) tech conference. Highlights from the presentation include the launch of BrightDrop, a new business venture aimed at providing last-mile electric delivery solutions, software, and services to delivery and logistics companies. In late June, GM announced an accelerated timeline for conversion of the GM CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll as the all-electric BrightDrop EV600 light commercial vehicle heads towards production.
GM also unveiled a series of futuristic concepts for the Cadillac luxury brand, including the Cadillac Personal Autonomous Vehicle, a self-driving luxury vehicle, and an autonomous, single-seater helicopter called the Cadillac Vertical Take-Off and Landing Vehicle (VTOL), while also teasing the new Cadillac Celestiq, an upcoming high-end flagship sedan utilizing an all-electric powertrain.
Cadillac dealerships are now preparing for the arrival of the Lyriq and future all-electric Cadillac models with a slew of upgrades. The new Lyriq is expected to enter production at the end of March in the 2022 calendar year.
In production news, GM announced new production start dates for a variety of GM’s North American production facilities, including extended downtime for the GM San Luis Potosí Assembly plant in Mexico and the Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee. The automaker was forced to idle North American pickup production through the remainder of July, while downtime at the GM CAMI plant in Canada was extended to August 16th.
GM hopes to keep production lines rolling through the global microchip shortage by removing some features from its full-size SUV lineup. The automaker recently began building the vehicles without the electric steering column lock or wireless phone charger features. Thanks to these efforts, GM’s profitable trucks and SUVs accounted for only one percent of its total production losses.
Nevertheless, General Motors has delayed the launch of its refreshed Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500 pickups, although GM Authority did reveal that both models will still be sold as 2022-model-year vehicles once they arrive. Previously, the automaker also began production of its highly anticipated Cadillac Blackwing sedans, with the very first CT5-V Blackwing rolling off the line on July 7th.
Earlier this month, GM stock value saw a healthy 7-percent increase following the announcement that efforts to soften the impact of the global microchip shortage worked better than originally anticipated, with new-vehicle deliveries increasing across the U.S and Canada in addition to upcoming better-than-expected first-half financial results.
At the outset of the shortage, GM cut production at four of its facilities, followed by extended production cuts at three of the facilities through April, and another production cut at Lansing Grand River for the remainder of March, the latter of which is expected to have affected production of 5,100 units.
Production cuts were also extended at GM’s Wentzville Assembly plant in Kentucky and CAMI assembly in Ingersoll, Ontario. The Wentzville facility restarted production on April 12th, while production at the GM Lansing Grand River Assembly plant restarted in May, but idled again shortly thereafter, only to be restarted in June. Meanwhile, the Chevy Malibu and Cadillac XT4 will resume production at the GM Fairfax Assembly facility on August 16th.
It was previously reported that GM is stockpiling unfinished vehicles waiting for new chips to arrive in a “build-shy” strategy intended to keep production rolling. Additionally, GM is building select units of the 2021 Chevy Silverado 1500 and 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 without certain fuel-saving technologies as a result of the shortage, including automatic engine stop-start. GM’s range of full-size SUVs is also rolling off the line without automatic stop-start.
GM also recently made an announcement that production of the Chevy Traverse and Buick Enclave would be cut at GM’s Delta Assembly Plant as the latest production hiccup resulting from the microchip shortage. GM’s Spring Hill Assembly Plant will also be idled for two weeks, as will the GM San Luis Potosi and Ramos Arizpe plants in Mexico.
It is believed that the microchip shortage could eat into earnings by as much as $2 billion during the 2021 calendar year, with estimates that nearly 280,000 units have been cut from GM’s production schedule as of May.
An emergency funding proposal earmarks $52 billion to support domestic chip production, including funds to support construction of 10 new semiconductor chip plants. The bill recently passed the U.S. Senate. GM is now seeking a long-term supply contract to mitigate the effects of a chip shortage in the future.
Now, production of the 2021 Chevy Camaro has resumed at GM’s Lansing Grand River Assembly facility in Michigan after the facility was idled due to the ongoing global microchip shortage. Production of the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 is set to resume August 9th, while GM’s Fairfax Assembly in Kansas is scheduled to remain idle until August 16th.
In the face of dwindling vehicle inventory, GM Financial has announced it will stop end-of-lease purchases with non-GM dealers, thus prioritizing participating GM dealers with regard to access to vehicles reentering the market.
Internationally, GM’s Gravataí facility in Brazil, which produces the Chevy Onix, will remain closed until mid-August. In further production-related news, Mexico recently extended a critical union vote at the GM Silao Plant in Mexico, which will determine whether to ratify the existing union currently representing workers at the facility.
GM recently announced a second recall for the Chevy Bolt EV over a potential fire risk affecting some 50,000 units. GM previously issued a recall in November of 2020 for 69,000 Chevy Bolt EV models, while issuing an initial fix for the issue in April.
Several other GM recalls were also recently announced, the most significant of which involves roof rail airbags that could rupture in more than 400,000 units of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, followed by a block heater cable short circuit issue in some 330,000 units of the Silverado HD and Sierra HD. Previous GM vehicle recalls include a recall for the performance air intake calibration for the Chevy Camaro and GM trucks, as well as power steering assist loss for GM’s full-size SUVs.
In legal news, General Motors and its autonomous vehicle subsidiary, Cruise, is suing Ford over use of the name ‘BlueCruise.’ A class-action lawsuit against General Motors was also allowed to proceed after a motion to dismiss the claim was denied.
In political news, U.S. lawmakers are urging the EPA to reinstate California’s right to set its own vehicle emission rules, while the Biden administration is urging automakers to ensure that their vehicle lineups consist of at least 40 percent EVs by 2030.
The greater auto industry, including the UAW workers union and major manufacturers like General Motors, previously called on President Biden to roll out tax credits and incentives to drive EV sales. The latest is that the Biden Administration plans to roll out a $100 billion plan for new EV rebates.
GM stock value has increased considerably over the past year, rising over 45 percent, or $18.52, as of this writing. Some of the biggest gains were seen in January, during which GM stock value peaked around $55 per share, before falling later in the month. In February, GM stock value clawed its way back to the mid-$55 range before falling to $50 per share in early March.
GM stock value saw steady gains throughout the month of March before dipping again later in the month, only to rise to record-breaking heights in early April, once again breaking the $60-per-share mark. GM stock value dipped through the month of May, but reached $64 per share the second week of June, setting a new record for the “new GM.” Since then, GM stock value has settled around the $60-per-share mark.
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