General Motors Reports Better-Than-Expected Q4, Shares Drive Higher

Shares of

were trading higher by 1.21 percent early Wednesday morning after the company reported its

. General Motors said that it earned $1.39 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $39.60 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.22 per share on revenue of $38.07 billion. Net income attributable to shareholders rose to $6.43 billion from $1.1 billion in the same quarter a year ago. EBIT-adjusted was a record $2.8 billion and EBIT-adjusted margin was 7.0 percent, both marking an increase from $2.4 billion and 6.1 percent a year ago. For the full fiscal year, General Motors' earned $5.02 per share (adjusted for special items), adjusted EBIT rose to a record of $10.8 billion, up from $6.5 billion in 2014. Revenue for the full fiscal year fell to $152.4 billion from $155.9 billion a year ago due to a negative net foreign currency exchange impact of $9.3 billion. General Motors also reaffirmed its full year earnings per share expectations of $5.25 to $5.75 per share. "It was a strong year on many fronts, capped with record sales and earnings, and a substantial return of capital to our shareholders," said Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. "We continue to strengthen our core business, which is laying the foundation for the company to lead in the transformation of personal mobility. We believe the opportunities this will create in connectivity, autonomous, car-sharing and electrification will set the stage for driving value for our owners for years to come."