So, you’re looking at General Motors stock price today and wondering if the wheels are finally coming off or if this is just a pit stop. On Friday, January 16, 2026, GM shares closed at $80.81. Honestly, it was a bit of a quiet slide, down about 0.12% from the previous close. But don't let the tiny red number fool you. The backstory here is huge.
If you've been tracking this since last year, you know GM has been on a wild ride. We are talking about a stock that hit a 52-week high of $85.18 not too long ago, but it also scraped the bottom at $41.60 within the same year. That kind of volatility isn't for the faint of heart. Basically, the market is trying to figure out if Mary Barra’s "pivot away from the pivot" is a stroke of genius or a desperate retreat.
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The Massive EV Reset No One Saw Coming
Earlier this month, GM dropped a bombshell that’s still rippling through the ticker. They’re taking a massive $7.1 billion charge for the fourth quarter of 2025. Most of that—about $6 billion—is specifically tied to North American electric vehicle writedowns. Why? Because the EV gold rush slowed down to a crawl.
It turns out people really like their gas-powered trucks and SUVs. GM noticed. They actually shifted the Orion Assembly plant in Michigan away from EVs and back to making internal combustion engine (ICE) pickups. You've got to admit, it's a bold move to tell the world you're slowing down on "the future" to make more of "the now." Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter recently called the setup for GM "particularly compelling" because of this shift. He even hiked his price target to $98. He basically said that by pulling back on EVs, GM is actually improving its earnings picture because those big gas guzzlers are where the real profit margins live.
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The Numbers You Actually Care About
Let’s talk brass tacks. GM is currently trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 16.26. If you compare that to some of the tech-heavy EV players, it looks cheap. If you compare it to historical Detroit standards, it's actually leaning toward the higher side.
- Market Cap: Roughly $75.4 billion.
- Dividend Yield: Somewhere around 0.74%.
- Earnings Per Share (EPS): Last reported at $4.97 trailing, but analysts are looking for a jump to over $11 next year.
That gap between today's earnings and next year's forecast is where the gamble lies. If GM can successfully navigate the end of federal consumer EV tax incentives—which they cited as a major reason for the demand slump—the stock might have more room to run.
What Analysts are Saying Right Now
It's a split camp, though it leans bullish. You’ve got UBS naming GM their top automotive pick with a $97 price target. They’re betting that North American margins could hit 8% to 10% by later this year. On the other side, some folks are worried about the $1.1 billion restructuring charge for their China joint venture, SAIC-GM. China has been a tough nut to crack lately with local competition getting fierce.
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And then there's the debt. GM’s debt-to-equity ratio is sitting around 1.40 to 2.0 depending on how you account for their financial arm. Some analysts, like the team over at GuruFocus, have flagged the Altman Z-Score as being in the "distress zone." It sounds scary, but for a massive capital-intensive company like an automaker, it's often part of the territory.
The Buyback Factor
You can't talk about General Motors stock price today without mentioning the $6 billion share repurchase program. They’ve been aggressive. By retiring shares, they’re trying to prop up the value of the ones you still hold. CEO Mary Barra has been pretty vocal about returning capital to shareholders, and the board even bumped the quarterly dividend to $0.15 last year.
Is it enough to offset the $7.1 billion in charges? Maybe. The market seems to be forgiving the one-time "bad news" of the EV writedowns because it signals a return to what GM does best: selling Silverados and Sierras.
What to Watch for Next
The big date on the calendar is January 27, 2026. That’s when GM is expected to report its full Q4 and year-end 2025 results. We’ll finally see the "real" impact of those $7.1 billion in charges and, more importantly, get a look at their 2026 guidance.
If you're holding GM or thinking about it, keep a close eye on the "ICE vs. EV" sales mix. If the gas-powered trucks continue to carry the weight and the EV losses start to narrow—even with lower volume—the stock could finally break past that $85 resistance level.
Actionable Insights for Investors:
- Check the P/E Ratio relative to Ford: Historically, GM and Ford trade in a similar range. If GM starts pulling away significantly, it might be overextended.
- Monitor Fed Policy: Since GM mentioned the expiration of tax incentives as a headwind, any news about new credits or trade tariffs will move this stock fast.
- Watch the January 27 Earnings Call: Pay attention to the "Adjusted Automotive Free Cash Flow" guidance. That’s the lifeblood of their dividend and buyback plan.
- Set Price Alerts: With the stock hovering near $80.81, the $85 mark is the psychological ceiling. A clean break above that on high volume could signal a new bullish phase.