GM Stock Soars as 2023 Guidance is Restored and $10 Billion Buyback Announced

General Motors (GM) shares jumped over 9% in early trading Wednesday after reinstating its 2023 guidance and announcing a $10 billion share buyback program, as well as a 33% dividend boost.

The company had withdrawn its 2023 full-year guidance when reporting its third-quarter earnings, citing uncertainty amid the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike against Detroit’s Big Three automakers GM, Ford (F), and Stellantis (STLA).

GM indicated that the reinstated guidance includes an estimated $1.1 billion EBIT-adjusted impact from the UAW strike, primarily from lost production.

“GM now anticipates full-year 2023 capital spending to be $11.0 billion-$11.5 billion, which is at the low end of its prior guidance range of $11.0 billion-$12.0 billion, driven by the previously announced retiming of certain product programs and more capital-efficient investment,” the company said.

GM’s deal with the UAW also included significant wage increases that will raise costs for GM. The automaker reported that the total incremental cost of the labor agreement could be $9.3 billion over the contract’s lifetime, ending in 2028, with an average vehicle cost impact of around $575.

However, CEO Mary Barra suggested GM is in the process of “finalizing a 2024 budget that will fully offset the incremental costs of our new labor agreements, and the long-term plan we are executing includes reducing the capital intensity of the business, developing products even more efficiently, and further reducing our fixed and variable costs.”

The company also reported it would be aggregating $10 billion to retire $6.8 billion worth of GM common stock. The automaker said it had around 1.37 billion shares of common stock outstanding prior to the buyback program. The company is set to increase its common stock dividend by $0.03 per quarter to $0.12 starting in 2024.

Despite Wednesday’s gains, shares of GM were down over 5% year-to-date.