General Motors on Tuesday said net income soared by 37 percent in the third quarter to $3.3 billion as improved truck production and rising prices helped the automaker generate record revenue.
GM’s global revenue rose 56 percent to $41.9 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes rose 47 percent to $4.3 billion.
The automaker’s net margin slid to 7.9 percent from 9 percent a year earlier.
GM earned $3.9 billion in North America before interest and taxes, an 83 percent increase. Its North American adjusted margin rose to 11.2 percent from 10.3 percent.
“We’re delivering on our commitments and affirming our full-year guidance despite a challenging environment because demand continues to be strong for GM products and we are actively managing the headwinds we face,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in a letter to shareholders Tuesday.
GM shares rose 3.4 percent to $36.95 in premarket trading.
GM confirmed its previous full-year guidance of $9.6 billion to $11.2 billion in net income and adjusted EBIT of $13 billion to $15 billion.
GM said its U.S. dealers had 359,000 vehicles in inventory at the end of the third quarter, nearly triple the number they had a year ago.
“We’re seeing inventories trend a little bit higher,” CFO Paul Jacobson told reporters, “but that’s not a surprise given the speed and the volume at which we’ve been cranking out vehicles.”
In July, GM said it would hold about 95,000 vehicles awaiting microchips and other parts that were in short supply. Jacobson said Tuesday that the automaker cleared out about 75 percent of those unfinished vehicles in the third quarter.
“Chips are getting better, certainly, than they were a year ago,” Jacobson said. He said GM is still building some vehicles without certain parts but not at the volume seen earlier in the chip shortage.
This story will be updated.
