General Motors shares gain for a second straight session on Thursday, vehicle sales in China shrink over 17% year-on-year during third quarter

Vehicle sales in China registered an annual drop of 17.5% during the quarter ended on September 30th, General Motors Company (GM) said. Sales were strongly affected by sluggish economic growth amid the US-China trade war as well as by fierce competition in GM’s mid-priced SUV segment.

General Motors shares closed higher for a second consecutive trading session in New York on Thursday. It has also been the sharpest daily surge since September 17th. The stock went up 1.52% ($0.52) to $34.66, after touching an intraday high at $34.82, or a price level not seen since October 7th ($35.11).

Shares of General Motors Company have risen 3.62% so far in 2019 compared with a 17.20% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, General Motors’ stock went down 18.39%, thus, it again underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

GM said that it had delivered 689 531 vehicles in China during this year’s third quarter, which marked the fifth consecutive quarter of decreasing sales.

According to data by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, US auto makers had a share of 9.5% of total passenger vehicle sales in China during the first eight months of 2019, compared with a share of 10.7% in the same period a year earlier.

At the same time, the share of German auto manufacturers has increased to 23.8% of total Chinese passenger vehicle sales during the first eight months of 2019 from 21.6% in the same period a year ago.

The auto maker sold 2.26 million vehicles in China during the first nine months of 2019. It sold 3.64 million vehicles in the country last year compared with 4.04 million vehicles sold in 2017.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 17 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding General Motors Company’s stock price, have a median target of $48.00, with a high estimate of $68.00 and a low estimate of $35.00. The median estimate represents a 38.49% upside compared to the closing price of $34.66 on October 10th.

The same media also reported that at least 12 out of 19 surveyed investment analysts had rated General Motors Company’s stock as “Buy”, while 5 – as “Hold”.