General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) just released its quarterly report and things are looking bullish. It was overall a positive result, with revenues beating expectations by 2.8% to hit US$43b. General Motors also reported a statutory profit of US$2.56, which was an impressive 23% above what the analysts had forecast. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

Taking into account the latest results, General Motors' 20 analysts currently expect revenues in 2024 to be US$175.7b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to dip 2.8% to US$9.06 in the same period. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$175.1b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$8.62 in 2024. So the consensus seems to have become somewhat more optimistic on General Motors' earnings potential following these results.

There's been no major changes to the consensus price target of US$54.58, suggesting that the improved earnings per share outlook is not enough to have a long-term positive impact on the stock's valuation. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. Currently, the most bullish analyst values General Motors at US$96.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$30.00. We would probably assign less value to the analyst forecasts in this situation, because such a wide range of estimates could imply that the future of this business is difficult to value accurately. As a result it might not be a great idea to make decisions based on the consensus price target, which is after all just an average of this wide range of estimates.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that General Motors' revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 0.6% annualised growth rate until the end of 2024 being well below the historical 5.4% p.a. growth over the last five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 12% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while revenue growth is expected to slow down, the wider industry is also expected to grow faster than General Motors.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that the analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, suggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards General Motors following these results. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for General Motors going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here..

You still need to take note of risks, for example - General Motors has 3 warning signs (and 2 which are significant) we think you should know about.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.