Topline
General Motors shares tanked again Thursday as a possible issue with its airbags added to negative concerns over the auto workers strike for the limping legacy American automaker.
Key Facts
The Wall Street Journal reported there are 20 million General Motors vehicles with airbag inflators that the government recommends recalling, potentially setting General Motors up to absorb a massive cost for replacements and repairs, though the company told CNBC it does not expect to recall more than the one million cars it already did for the issue.
Shares of General Motors slid 2.3% to $30.31 in Thursday trading, underperforming the S&P 500’s 0.1% slip and rival Ford’s 0.6% decline.
That’s General Motors’ lowest closing share price since October 6, 2020.
Key Background
Also weighing heavily on General Motors stock is the strike of unionized laborers at the “Big Three” American automakers also including Chrysler and Ford. General Motors shares are down 11% since the strike began September 15, a far steeper decline than Ford’s 6% dip and Chrysler parent Stellantis’ 2% drop (the S&P is down 4% during the stretch). The recent slide has sent General Motors’ market capitalization from $47 billion to $42 billion. General Motors shares are now down more than 50% from their January 2022 peak.
Big Number
16%. That’s the total return on an investment in General Motors, including dividend payouts, since its post-bankruptcy 2010 initial public offering, according to FactSet data, equating to an annual return of just over 1%. The median S&P constituent has returned 293% since November 2010.
Tangent
Each of the Big Three automakers have laid off workers since the strike began. Ford axed 400 positions in Michigan Thursday, attributing the dismissals to “upstream effects” from the labor stoppage, General Motors temporarily laid off more than 2,000 Kansas and Ohio workers last month and Stellantis laid off nearly 400 employees in Ohio and Indiana.
Surprising Fact
Shares of several other notable American companies fell to 52-week lows Thursday, according to FactSet: Bank of America, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and NextEra Energy.
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