Good news for General Motors (GM) today as it posted its 2024 sales numbers. Those numbers were quite good indeed, according to a Reuters report, which said sales were up 4.3% against 2023’s numbers. And investors took the news in stride, sending GM shares up fractionally in Friday afternoon’s trading.
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The big leaders for GM’s sales rise, the report noted, were SUVs and pickup trucks, which is really not surprising, as these are perennial leaders for any car company these days. 2024 saw a combined total of 2.7 million units sold, which is up nicely from the 2.59 million units sold in 2023. The fourth quarter alone saw a 21% jump in sales, noted a Detroit Free Press report.
It was not just pickups and SUVs that gave GM its sales boost, though. A combination of factors, including “new or refreshed models” and the new line of electric vehicles coming out of the Ultium lineup lit a fire under GM’s total sales. GM’s electric vehicle production also improved substantially, as in 2023, making battery cell modules for GM cars was a bit of a difficult proposition. But production has improved in the year since, the report noted, and that gave GM a boost.
And Speaking of Electrics….
GM is also working on a whole new kind of electric vehicle, noted a report from Inside EVs. The biggest difference so far is battery shape; where previously batteries looked like jelly rolls, GM’s new version now looks like “an upside-down taco.”
The new version—discovered in a recently-revealed patent—will offer an improvement by using “non-cylindrical cell packaging.” And if that sounds like a meaningless cosmetic change to you, there actually is a tangible benefit to the taco format: thermal performance. With the configuration change, GM’s batteries will get “better heat dissipation,” which in turn will help the battery last longer and perform better, two key points of electric vehicle user experience.
Is GM Stock a Buy or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on GM stock based on 10 Buys, six Holds and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 46.7% rally in its share price over the past year, the average GM price target of $57.94 per share implies 12.5% upside potential.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
