General Motors takes $2.9B hit from UAW strike

General Motors says the United Auto Workers strike had a big impact on business at the end of summer, and the pain isn't over.

The labor action, which stalled production for six weeks, erased about $2.9 billion in 2019 net income, or $2 a share. In the third quarter alone, the strike wiped out about $1 billion of profit, or 52 cents a share or earnings.

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Its third-quarter results still topped estimates, however, sending shares higher ahead of the opening bell.

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The automaker earned an adjusted $1.72 a share on revenue of $35.5 billion, topping the $1.31 and $33.8 billion that analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting. Net income was $2.3 billion, well ahead of the $1.76 billion that was anticipated.

"Our underlying third-quarter performance demonstrates the ongoing resilience and earnings power of our company, building on our leading truck and crossover franchises, and transformational cost actions," CFO Dhivya Suryadevara said in the earnings release.

GM continued to see momentum in its full-size pickup truck segment, as sales of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra spiked 18 percent and 38 percent, respectively, versus a year ago. Overall, U.S. dealership deliveries rose 6 percent from last year to nearly 739,000 vehicles.

However, demand from China weakened as sales fell 14 percent, worse than the almost 11 percent industry decline. Cadillac was a bright spot in China, as sales increased 11 percent.

Looking ahead, GM expects diluted adjusted earnings per share of $4.50 to $4.80, down from its original outlook of $6.50 to $7.

General Motors shares were up 9.5 percent this year through Monday.