General Motors beats earnings estimates as prices and demand change. The arrow goes up.

Wall Street was looking for earnings of $1.87 per share and operating income of $3.2 billion on sales of $42.1 billion. In the last year a quarterGeneral Motors Corporation (Ticker: GM) reported adjusted earnings of $1.14 and operating profit of $2.3 billion on sales of $35.8 billion.

For the full year, GM expects operating profit of between $12 billion and $14 billion. In April, that range ranged from $11 billion to $13 billion.

Shares of General Motors rose 0.8% after the results were announced. Standard & Poor’s 500 Futures rose 0.1%. Dow Jones Industrial Average Flat futures trading.

This is breaking news. Read a preview of GM’s earnings below and check back for more analysis soon.

There is no shortage of questions for auto investors heading into General Motors’ earnings report Tuesday.

Interest rates, supply chains, pricing and demand are all in a state of flux. How GM handles that will go a long way to determining how the stock performs in the second half of the year.

For the second quarter, Wall Street is looking for earnings per share of $1.87 and operating income of $3.2 billion on sales of $42.1 billion. In the a quarter agoGeneral Motors Corporation (Ticker: GM) reported adjusted earnings of $1.14 and operating profit of $2.3 billion on sales of $35.8 billion.

Sales and profits are expected to improve as supply chain problems that have plagued the auto industry for years — including semiconductor shortages — recede. General Motors delivery 691,978 units in the US in the second quarter, up from 582,401 units delivered in the second quarter of 2022.

Dealer inventories ended the second quarter at 427,973 units, up from about 250,000 units a year ago.

Improving inventories is a good thing, but oversupply can mean weaker pricing. While the average transaction price for a new car in the United States remains high, at About $49,000 According to Kelly Blue Book, incentives from automakers are also on the rise, amounting to more than $2,000 a unit.

However, incentives help consumers buy new cars, which has been a challenge. Monthly car payments have gone up a lot, along with interest rates. Americans buy new cars at an annual rate of nearly 15 million units annually today. Before the pandemic it was close to 17 million.

Electric cars are another topic that investors will be interested in. GM delivered 15,354 electric vehicles in the United States in the second quarter, down from the 20,670 delivered in the first quarter.

Most of GM’s EV renditions are Chevy Bolts, which have been discontinued. This increases the risk of upcoming launches. GM will ship electric versions of the Chevy Blazer and Silverado in the second half of 2023 and an electric version of the Equinox in 2024. Investors will want one or all of these products.

For the full year, GM expects 2023 operating profit of between $11 billion and $13 billion. This rating was introduced in April and rose from a range of $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion in January.

Wall Street currently expects $11.8 billion, just above the middle of GM’s range.

During midday trading Monday, General Motors stock is up about 14% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average are up about 15% and 11%, respectively.

The administration will host a conference call Tuesdays at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Write to Al Root at [email protected]