General Motors (GM) Q2 2026: $2.3B EV Charge Masks 8.6% GMNA Margin as GM Lifts 2026 Guidance
The underlying North American business is getting better, not worse — the headline just does not show it. GM's GAAP operating income fell 31.4% to $1,459 million in the second quarter, but that number carries a $2,279 million charge from the company's electric-vehicle strategic realignment. Strip the charge out and EBIT-adjusted rose 29.8% to $3,943 million, with GM North America posting an 8.6% adjusted margin — the bottom edge of management's 8.0–10.0% target. Management was confident enough to raise full-year 2026 guidance for the second time this year, to $14–16 billion of EBIT-adjusted and $12–14 of adjusted EPS. The catch is that the EV reset is not an accounting entry: GM paid out $4.1 billion of cash against these charges in the first half alone.
All balance sheet, income statement and cash flow figures below are from GM's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026; guidance figures are from the company's July 21, 2026 earnings release and call.
1. Balance Sheet: Working Capital Swings, Not Structural Change
1-1. Major Asset Items
| Item | Dec 31, 2025 ($M) | Jun 30, 2026 ($M) | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and cash equivalents | 20,945 | 20,134 | -3.9% |
| Marketable debt securities | 6,724 | 4,585 | -31.8% |
| Accounts and notes receivable, net | 13,054 | 16,770 | +28.5% |
| Inventories | 14,467 | 15,950 | +10.3% |
| Property, net | 51,683 | 53,316 | +3.2% |
| Goodwill and intangible assets, net | 4,366 | 4,305 | -1.4% |
| Total assets | 281,284 | 282,742 | +0.5% |
Total assets barely moved. What moved is inside working capital — the short-term money tied up in running the business. Receivables jumped 28.5% and inventories 10.3%, while accounts payable rose 20.6% to $28,840 million. The payables build partly offsets the receivable and inventory build, but not fully, and that shows up in cash flow.
