GM beat the Street, and its stock fell anyway. General Motors reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $50.0 billion, up 2.9% from a year earlier, net income of $3.3 billion, adjusted EBIT of $4.1 billion and adjusted earnings of $3.70 a share before the bell on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. Shares were down more than 5% in early trading, Investing.com and Yahoo Finance reported.

Why the stock dropped

GM narrowed its full-year guidance instead of raising it. Adjusted EBIT is now $14.5 billion to $15.5 billion (was $14.0 billion to $16.0 billion) and adjusted EPS $12.75 to $13.75 (was $12.00 to $14.00). Yahoo Finance notes both midpoints are unchanged, and Investing.com says the $13.25 EPS midpoint is below the $13.42 analyst consensus. GM did raise its adjusted automotive free cash flow forecast to $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion, from $9.5 billion to $11.5 billion.

The board approved a new $20 billion multi-year share buyback with no expiration date after GM finished its $6.0 billion program, and declared a $0.18 quarterly dividend payable Dec. 17. GM had 849 million shares outstanding on Sept. 30, down from 904 million at the end of 2025.

Costs and EVs

CEO Mary Barra pointed to "growing inflationary pressures." GM now expects about $2 billion of commodity inflation, including logistics and memory chip (DRAM) costs, and cut its expected regulatory benefits to about $500 million, Yahoo Finance reports. Tariff costs are tracking toward the low end of its $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion range. GM's EV strategic realignment added $238 million of charges this quarter and $3.594 billion so far this year, according to its release.

The EV business keeps shrinking. Based on GM's Q3 model-by-model U.S. sales, Yahoo Finance calculates EV sales fell about 62% to roughly 25,500 units, with the Chevrolet Equinox EV down 92.4% to 1,905. GM has also confirmed it will close its Brownstown Battery Assembly plant outside Detroit, which built battery packs and electric drive parts for the Corvette E-Ray and Cadillac Celestiq, The Drive reports, citing Automotive News.

Memory chip costs are hitting other EV makers too: see Rivian's warning on chip prices. Tesla reports its own Q3 results on Wednesday after the close; here is our Tesla Q3 earnings preview.