General Motors earned $3.3 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up from $1.3 billion a year earlier. That GM quarterly profit came with a new $20 billion share buyback, approved by the board and announced with the results on October 20, 2026. GM said its full-size pickups had a record quarter, while the cost of its electric-vehicle retreat shrank.
The jump looks bigger than the business underneath it. Revenue rose only modestly, and U.S. sales actually fell. Instead, most of the gain came from far smaller one-time charges than GM booked a year ago.
Even so, GM raised its cash forecast for the year and narrowed its profit range. As a result, investors got a higher dividend and a buyback plan more than three times the size of the $6 billion one GM just finished.
The numbers behind GM quarterly profit
According to GM’s third-quarter release filed with the SEC, revenue reached $50.0 billion, up 2.9% from $48.6 billion. Net income attributable to stockholders was $3.3 billion, compared with $1.3 billion in the third quarter of 2025.
The Detroit Free Press put the gain at 151%, from $1.32 billion a year earlier. In other words, profit was about two and a half times last year’s figure.
GM also reports an adjusted measure that strips out special items. On that basis, EBIT-adjusted came to $4.1 billion, up 21.6% from $3.4 billion. Diluted earnings per share were $3.73, against $1.35 a year earlier. Meanwhile, adjusted diluted earnings per share rose to $3.70 from $2.80.
Why the profit more than doubled
The gap between net income and the adjusted figure tells the story. A year ago, GM booked $1.592 billion in EV strategic realignment charges in the third quarter, the release shows. This time, the same line came to $238 million.
Those charges have not gone away for the year, however. Through nine months, GM has recorded $3.594 billion of them, compared with $1.922 billion at the same point in 2025.
The Free Press, in a report carried by Virginia Business, said GM credited fewer special charges for production changes, tariffs and supplier contract settlements. It also pointed to spending discipline, pricing and growth outside the car business. In total, GM has recorded $11.2 billion in EV-related charges since it began restructuring in the second half of 2025, the paper reported.
Pickups carried North America
GM’s North American unit did most of the earning. GM North America posted EBIT-adjusted of $3.592 billion, and its margin rose to 8.7% from 6.2%, according to the release. By comparison, GM International earned $28 million on the same basis.
Trucks remain the core of that business. GM sold 359,000 trucks in the U.S. in the quarter, the release says. Still, its U.S. truck market share slipped to 31.0% from 32.3%. Its overall U.S. share also dipped, to 16.1% from 16.8%.
Sales volume fell, too. The Free Press reported that U.S. sales dropped 5.5% to 670,974 vehicles from 710,347. GM blamed a smaller EV market after the federal tax credit ended in 2025, along with discontinued models. Even so, GM said its full-size pickups posted their highest sales ever, according to the paper.
A $20 billion buyback and a bigger dividend
The board’s new buyback authorization is worth $20 billion and spans multiple years. It has no expiration date, and GM says it may suspend or end the program at any time. The new plan follows a $6 billion buyback that GM announced in January 2026 and has now completed.
The earlier buybacks have already cut the share count. GM had 849 million shares outstanding on September 30, 2026, down from 904 million at the end of 2025. During the third quarter alone, GM repurchased $2.5 billion of stock and retired 29 million shares, the Free Press reported.
In her shareholder letter, Chair and CEO Mary Barra said the new authorization “further demonstrates our board’s commitment to creating even greater shareholder value.” Separately, the board declared a quarterly dividend of 18 cents a share. It is payable December 17, 2026, to holders of record on December 4. According to GM Authority, that matches the first two quarters of 2026 and is 3 cents higher than the 15-cent dividend for the fourth quarter of 2025.
GM’s 2026 outlook got tighter
GM narrowed its full-year range for EBIT-adjusted to $14.5 billion to $15.5 billion, from $14.0 billion to $16.0 billion. It also raised its adjusted automotive free cash flow outlook to $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion, up from $9.5 billion to $11.5 billion.
The net income forecast moved as well. GM now expects $8.9 billion to $9.5 billion, compared with $8.4 billion to $9.8 billion before. Likewise, adjusted earnings per share should land between $12.75 and $13.75, the release says.
The Free Press gave a slightly different EBIT range of $14.5 billion to $15 billion. However, GM’s own release lists $14.5 billion to $15.5 billion, and that is the figure used here.
Hybrids and Super Cruise come next
Barra also pointed to what comes after the EV pullback. “We will have hybrids in our portfolio in multiple segments, the key segments we participate in,” she said on the investor call, according to the Free Press. She added that GM needs no further capital spending or engineering to do it.
Trucks also sit at the center of GM’s software plans. In her letter, Barra said trucks will drive Super Cruise adoption in 2027. She expects Super Cruise penetration in the truck lineup to grow four to five times next year. For now, GM delivered about 83,000 Super Cruise-equipped vehicles in the third quarter, the paper reported.
The rest of Detroit reports soon, and GM quarterly profit will set the bar. Ford and Stellantis are expected to post their own results on October 28. Until then, the record shows GM entering the last quarter of 2026 with 849 million shares outstanding and an 18-cent dividend due December 17.
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