What Would You Have Needed To Notice In GM Stock?
General Motors (GM) stock returned 50.6% in the year to October 14, 2026, outpacing the 17.3% gain for the S&P 500. The shares climbed even as the underlying business failed to grow. Over its latest twelve reported months, GM sold about as much as it had a year earlier, yet it earned less on it. So what could you have seen at GM before October 13, 2025?
What GM Showed Investors Before October 13, 2025
Investors watched the share price rally even as management warned of a tariff bill and reported a weaker quarter. During a May 5, 2025 conference call covering the first quarter, management revised the full-year adjusted profit guidance to account for tariffs. The company estimated its current tariff exposure at $4 billion to $5 billion.
Financial results for April to June 2025, filed on July 22, 2025, revealed a weaker business. The operating margin fell to 4.5% in that quarter, down from 8.1% in the same quarter of 2024. During the July earnings call, management stated they were positioning the business to adapt to new trade and tax policies.
Meanwhile, the shares returned 23.9% from April 14 to October 13, 2025. The stock was already climbing before the twelve-month window measured here. That split, a rising share price coupled with a falling margin, stood in plain view. Through it all, GM’s own figures offered no evidence of a business turnaround.
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GM Earned Less, Yet Its Shares Cost More
That market gain was GM’s own. Over the year to October 14, 2026, Ford returned 9.3% while Tesla lost 15.8%. Yet GM’s underlying business did not grow to match its stock performance. Revenue slipped 1.1% in the twelve months to June 2026 from a year earlier.
Profit took a far steeper hit. During the October to December 2025 quarter, GM reported an operating loss of $3.65 billion. Over the twelve months to June 2026, the operating margin sat at roughly 1.0%, against 5.7% a year earlier. Furthermore, no quarter end from September 2016 to June 2026 shows a lower twelve-month margin.
The share price moved in the opposite direction. By the June 2026 quarter end, GM shares were valued at 0.372 times sales, up from 0.313 a year earlier. Investors paid more for each dollar GM sold even as the company earned less on it. This dynamic mirrors the same split visible before October 13, 2025.
Is GM’s Margin Still Below Last Year’s?
Yes, and that trend persists across both quarters GM has reported for 2026. The operating margin came in at 6.7% for January to March, down from 7.6% a year earlier. During April to June, the margin fell to 3.0%, compared with 4.5% a year earlier.
Meanwhile, GM stock has trailed the broader market since April 15, 2026. The shares returned 7.2% over that span, lagging the 10.5% gain for the S&P 500.
Looking ahead, GM’s operating margin remains the number to watch in the quarterly report expected on or around October 20, 2026. A July to September 2026 operating margin above the 2.2% reported for July to September 2025 would indicate the business is starting to catch up with the stock price. Conversely, a margin below that threshold would confirm the same split remains intact.
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