General Motors Co. (GM) handed investors almost everything on their wish list Tuesday: an earnings beat, a revenue beat, higher cash flow guidance and a board-approved $20 billion share buyback.

The stock is heading for its worst day in 15 months anyway, down 6.8% to $77.15 in premarket trading. A close there would be the steepest one-day drop since July 22, 2025, when shares lost 8.1%.

Nearly Every Line Was a Beat

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $3.70, above the $3.56 estimate. Revenue rose 2.9% year over year to $50.02 billion, ahead of the $48.53 billion consensus.

North America did the heavy lifting. Adjusted EBIT, or earnings before interest and taxes stripped of one-off items, reached $3.59 billion in the region as margins widened to 8.7% from 6.2% a year ago. GM also posted its best third-quarter full-size pickup sales ever.

So Why Is the Stock Falling? Check the Full-Year Outlook

GM narrowed its 2026 adjusted EBIT guidance to $14.5 billion to $15.5 billion, from $14 billion to $16 billion. The midpoint stayed at $15 billion.

In other words, a quarter that beat expectations did not lift the annual profit forecast. Costs are part of the reason. GM now expects about $2 billion in commodity inflation, including logistics and memory chips, compared with up to $2 billion previously.

GM International, the unit covering markets outside North America, was the weak spot. Its adjusted EBIT came in at just $28 million, against an estimate of $130.4 million.

Meanwhile, U.S. deliveries fell 5.5% to about 671,000 units, and market share slipped to 16.1% from 16.8%, according to the company's earnings presentation.

A $20 Billion Buyback Worth About 30% of GM

The new authorization follows the completion of a $6 billion program. Shares outstanding have already fallen to 849 million from 904 million at the end of 2025.

At Tuesday's premarket price, GM is worth about $65 billion. The buyback therefore equals roughly 30% of the company.

The cash is there. Adjusted automotive free cash flow rose 40% to $5.88 billion in the quarter, and GM raised its full-year target to $11.5 billion-$12.5 billion, up from the previous $9.5 billion to $11.5 billion range.

But a buyback changes how profit is divided, not how much profit there is. Investors on Tuesday are focused on the second part.

Expectations were also high. GM shares had gained 43% over the past 12 months through Monday and hit a record $91.85 earlier this year. The premarket price leaves the stock 16% below that peak and about 5% lower for the year.

What Wall Street Analysts Think

GM carries a Buy consensus rating from 21 analysts tracked by MarketDash Analyst Ratings, with an average price target of $97. That implies about 26% upside from the premarket price.

No firm had moved on the stock after the report as of early Tuesday. Before earnings, targets were moving in both directions.

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