GM Near 52-Week High: 4 Reasons the Stock Is Still a Strong Buy
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December 17, 2025 — 07:58 am EST Written by Rimmi Singhi for Zacks-> U.S. legacy automaker General Motors’ GM stock is hovering around its 52-week high. It closed the last trading session at $81.76, just 1.5% off its one-year peak. Over the past six months, the stock has gained 70%, outperforming the industry as well as its closest peer Ford F. Shares of Ford rose around 30% over the past six months. During the same timeframe, shares of electric vehicle giant Tesla TSLA gained 52%. Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchGM stock has been performing well thanks to strong financial results, aggressive share buybacks, restructuring successes in China and investor optimism around its product lineup. Notably, General Motors has emerged as a serious challenger to Tesla in the domestic EV market. Solidifying its spot as the second-leading EV seller, GM sold 144,668 EVs in the first nine months of 2025, up 105% year over year.Despite the impressive price performance, GM stock is still trading at just 7X forward earnings. Meanwhile, Ford and Tesla trade at a forward earnings multiple of 9.73 and 265.57, respectively. GM’s attractive valuation adds to its investment appeal. The company has a Value Score of A. Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchGM surpassed EPS estimates for 13 straight quarters.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 implies an uptick of 13% from the 2025 projected levels. The consensus mark for EPS has moved north over the past 60 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchGM’s investment case is supported by four key pillars— its strong U.S. market share and product lineup, a visible turnaround in China, a fast-scaling software and services business, and a solid balance sheet backed by aggressive capital returns.General Motors remains the top-selling automaker in the United States, holding a 17% market share in the third quarter of 2025, up 50 basis points year over year. Strong demand for its leading brands—Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac—continues to fuel sales growth, driven by popular pickups and SUVs. GM expects ICE volumes to stay robust while strengthening its production base with onshoring initiatives. Upcoming launches like the next-gen Cadillac CT5, redesigned XT5 and the Orion Assembly plant’s relaunch in early 2027—set to produce the Cadillac Escalade and new full-size pickups—underscore GM’s commitment to meet customer demand in the U.S. market.General Motors’ restructuring in China shows clear progress. The company has overhauled operations by rightsizing, streamlining dealer networks, cutting costs and rolling out new products. These efforts have paid off, with Q3 vehicle sales in China up 10% year over year—marking the second straight quarter of growth. Market share expanded 30 basis points to 6.8%, while equity income climbed to $80 million, its fourth straight quarterly gain. GM expects to deliver full-year profitability in China. General Motors is seeing strong traction in its software and services business, which is emerging as an important growth engine. On its lastearnings call GM said it has already recorded about $2 billion in revenues from Super Cruise, OnStar, and other software products this year. Deferred revenues climbed to $5 billion by the end of the third quarter, up more than 90% from last year. OnStar’s global subscriber base grew 34% to over 11 million and is expected to cross 12 million by year-end. Super Cruise adoption is also picking up, with more than 500,000 active users. GM expects Super Cruise revenues to exceed $200 million in 2025.General Motors exited the third quarter of 2025 with a solid automotive liquidity position of $35.7 billion, including $21.8 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities—reflecting strong financial flexibility. The company’s investor-friendly moves further instill confidence. After halting its dividend due to precautionary reasons during the pandemic, GM raised its dividend by 25% in 2025.The company notified on its lastearnings callthat it bought back more than $3.5 billion worth of stock since the beginning of the year through the third quarter (including $1.5 billion in the third quarter of 2025) despite a challenging macro environment. This reduced its share count to 954 million, down 15% year over year. General Motors exited the quarter with $2.8 billion shares remaining on buyback authorization.Despite trading near its 52-week high, General Motors still offers a compelling risk-reward profile. Strong earnings momentum, expanding U.S. market share, improving profitability in China, and rising software revenues support sustained growth. Coupled with a discounted valuation, robust liquidity, and aggressive buybacks, GM appears well-positioned to deliver further upside for long-term investors.GM stock sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Each was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the coming year. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +112%, +171%, +209% and +232%. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free reportFord Motor Company (F) : Free Stock Analysis ReportGeneral Motors Company (GM) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTesla, Inc. (TSLA) : Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchThe views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.This data feed is not available at this time.