GM beat first-quarter earnings expectations after winning a US Supreme Court decision to refund around $500 million from the Trump Administration’s tariffs.
GM tops Q1 2026 earnings as tariff pressure eases
With 25,900 electric vehicles sold in Q1, GM said it maintained its position as the #2 EV seller in the US behind Tesla.
While that’s up slightly from Q4 2025, it’s down about 20% from the roughly 30,000 EVs GM sold in the same period last year.
After reporting first-quarter earnings on Tuesday, the company said it took an additional $1.1 billion hit due to its recent “EV strategic alignment,” adding to the $7.6 billion in costs GM inherited in 2025.
The bulk of the costs was due to shifting production from EVs to ICEs at GM’s Orion assembly plant and canceled supply contracts. Last month, GM idled its $2.2 billion Factory Zero EV plant in Detroit for the second time in three months.
Despite the added costs, GM beat Wall Street expectations, posting an adjusted earnings of $4.3 billion and $43.6 billion in Q1 revenue.
The company also raised its full-year 2026 earnings expectations after winning roughly $500 million from the US Supreme Court in a case regarding tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). GM now expects adjusted earnings of $13.5 billion to $15.5 billion in 2026, up from the previous $13 billion to $15 billion.
GM still expects gross tariffs to cost $2.5 billion to $3.0 billion this year, down from the $3.0 billion to $4.0 billion it previously forecasted.
“We have solid momentum in our core operations,” CEO Mary Barra said in GM’s Q1 2026 letter to shareholders, adding, “We were #2 in EVs with growing market share, and #1 in Canada.”
While GM still ranks second behind Tesla in the US EV market, its recent adjustments could put it behind rivals like Hyundai Motor, including Kia and Genesis, which is ramping up production at its manufacturing plant in Georgia.
Through the first three months of 2026, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 outsold GM’s most popular electric model, the Chevy Equinox EV.
With production ramping up at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, where the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 9 are built, and several new models set to launch, including the highly anticipated Kia EV3, the Korean automaker has a real shot at overtaking GM in the EV market.
The EV3 will go on sale in the US later this year as a low-cost rival to the Chevy Bolt EV. Kia will reveal prices closer to launch, but the EV3 is expected to start at under $35,000.
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