General Motors Co. plans to step up its program of buybacks by repurchasing $6 billion in shares and raising its dividend, rewarding investors by pushing more cash off its balance sheet.
The move, which the Detroit-based carmaker announced Wednesday, comes as the auto industry faces uncertainty about the impact of policy changes under President Donald Trump, including threatened tariffs and pledges to roll back support for electric vehicles.
“We feel confident in our business plan, our balance sheet remains strong and we will be agile if we need to respond to changes in public policy,” Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said in a statement.
GM said the buyback has no expiration date but that it aims to complete the first $2 billion in repurchases by the end of the second quarter. The company also plans to raise the quarterly dividend by 3 cents a share to 15 cents.
Its shares jumped 6.1% to $49.54 as of 9:35 a.m. in New York.
It’s the latest in a series of blockbuster share repurchases by the company. As recently as 2021, GM had 1.45 billion in shares outstanding, but currently has less than 1 billion in publicly traded stock.
The carmaker authorized $6 billion in share buybacks in June and has $300 million remaining on that program. That came on top of a previous $10 billion buyback program it completed in November 2023. All told, including the latest announcement, GM’s board has signed off on $37.7 billion in buybacks since 2015. That has helped buoy the value of GM’s shares, despite a series of recent setbacks in its business plans and strategy.
The automaker’s estimated dividend payments over the next year rose 18% to 58 cents per share from the previous estimate of 49 cents per share, according to Bloomberg Dividend Forecasts.
With an adjusted automotive free cash flow target of $11 billion to $13 billion for 2025, the company can afford the payouts while maintaining a steady capital spending plan. But it’s choosing not to plow all of its largesse into new investments or to keep it as a cushion from any negative fallout from the policy flux in Washington.
Trump has proposed 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, where GM has a combined five assembly plants and also is exposed through a highly integrated North American auto parts supply chain. Trump also has directed his administration to consider eliminating policies that favor electric vehicles, which could put GM’s investments into plug-in vehicles at near-term risk.
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