General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM)

Debt to Equity Ratio

The debt to equity ratio demonstrates a clear declining trend from March 2020 through March 2023, decreasing from 3.15 to 1.64, indicating a gradual reduction in reliance on debt relative to shareholders' equity. However, starting from December 2023, this ratio shows a slight upward movement with some fluctuations, rising again to around 2.00 by September 2025. This may reflect a moderate increase in leverage or changes in capital structure strategies.

Debt to Capital Ratio

The debt to capital ratio also follows a downward trend from 0.76 in early 2020 to approximately 0.61 by September 2023, consistent with the debt to equity ratio's overall reduction in leverage. Post-September 2023, the ratio stabilizes around 0.65 to 0.67, showing relatively consistent capital composition with a marginal increase in the debt proportion during this later period.

Debt to Assets Ratio

This ratio decreases from 0.51 at the start of the observed period to a low near 0.42 by September 2023, indicating a reduction in the percentage of assets financed by debt. After this low point, the ratio fluctuates moderately, increasing to approximately 0.46 by September 2025, suggesting a slight increase in asset financing through debt but maintaining a level below early 2020 values.

Financial Leverage Ratio

Financial leverage declines markedly from 6.15 in March 2020 to around 3.78 by September 2023, evidencing a significant decrease in total assets to equity coverage. Subsequently, an upward trend emerges with leverage rising to about 4.34 by September 2025. This pattern is consistent with observed increases in debt ratios during the later period, signaling a moderately higher degree of leverage after a substantial deleveraging phase.

Interest Coverage Ratio

The interest coverage ratio shows robust performance starting from a value of 8.37 in September 2020, rising sharply to a peak near 15.87 in September 2021. It remains relatively strong through 2023, consistently above 10. However, from March 2024 onward, this ratio exhibits a declining trend, dropping to 7.21 by September 2025. This decline suggests decreasing earnings ability relative to interest obligations, potentially indicating increased borrowing costs or reduced operational profitability during this timeframe.

Overall Observations

The data reflects a sustained effort to reduce leverage and improve financial stability from early 2020 through late 2023, as evidenced by declining debt ratios and financial leverage along with strong interest coverage. Beginning around late 2023, a shift occurs with minor increases in leverage ratios and a decreasing interest coverage ratio, pointing to a cautious reversal or adjustment in financing and operational dynamics. Continuous monitoring of leverage and interest coverage will be important to assess ongoing risk and financial health.

The financial data reveals several notable trends in the company's capital structure over the observed periods.

Total Debt

The total debt initially decreased from 126,500 million US dollars in March 2020 to 109,379 million by December 2020. Following this reduction, the debt level generally increased, reaching a peak of 135,731 million in June 2025, before experiencing a slight decline to 132,503 million by September 2025. This pattern indicates a phase of deleveraging at the start, succeeded by a gradual increase in debt levels over the subsequent years.

Stockholders’ Equity

Stockholders’ equity showed a predominantly upward trend from 40,113 million in March 2020 to a peak of 74,475 million in March 2024. However, after this peak, equity declined notably to approximately 63,072 million by March 2025 and then stabilized around 66,374 million by September 2025. This suggests strong equity growth until early 2024, which was followed by a contraction and stabilization phase.

Debt to Equity Ratio

The debt to equity ratio significantly improved from 3.15 in March 2020 to 1.60 by December 2021, indicating enhanced financial leverage and a stronger equity base relative to debt. However, from early 2022 onwards, the ratio increased again, rising to above 2.00 by mid-2025 before slightly decreasing to 2.00 in September 2025. This reflects a reversal of the earlier deleveraging trend, signaling increased relative debt compared to equity in the most recent periods.

Overall, the data presents a cycle of initial deleveraging, characterized by a reduction in total debt and an increase in equity, improving the company’s leverage position up to late 2021. Thereafter, both rising debt levels and a declining equity base contributed to a worsening debt to equity ratio. This shift suggests increased financial risk or strategic leveraging in the later periods.

The financial data reveals notable trends in the company’s leverage and capital structure over multiple quarters. Total debt exhibited a general decline from the first quarter of 2020 through the end of 2020, decreasing from $126.5 billion to approximately $109.9 billion. This downward trend continued modestly through 2021, fluctuating around the $108 billion to $114 billion range. However, from early 2022 onwards, total debt began a gradual increase, reaching a peak in the third quarter of 2025 at approximately $135.7 billion, before a slight reduction by the last recorded quarter.

Total capital mirrored some of this behavior but with less volatility. Beginning at about $166.6 billion in the first quarter of 2020, total capital saw a reduction through the end of 2020, hitting a low near $155 billion. It then rebounded steadily during 2021 and through 2022, growing to almost $193.3 billion by the third quarter of 2023. Some fluctuations followed, with capital peaking and slightly dropping thereafter, maintaining a range between $188 billion and $202 billion up to late 2025.

The debt-to-capital ratio offers insights into the relative weight of debt within the company’s capital structure. From a high of 0.76 in early 2020, the ratio steadily improved, declining to 0.61 by the fourth quarter of 2023, indicating a reduction in leverage relative to total capital. This trend suggests a strengthening balance sheet with lower debt intensity initially. However, beginning in early 2024, the debt-to-capital ratio reversed moderately, rising back to approximately 0.67 by late 2025. This increase correlates with the uptick in total debt observed during the same period, signaling a return to higher leverage levels albeit still below the early 2020 peak.

Overall, the data illustrates a cycle of debt reduction and capital consolidation through 2020 and early 2023, followed by a phase of rising debt and leverage from 2024 onwards. The company appears to have managed its capital structure dynamically, initially strengthening its position by lowering relative debt exposure. The subsequent increase in leverage may reflect renewed borrowing activity potentially aimed at supporting growth initiatives or managing liquidity needs amid changing market conditions.

Total Debt

Decreased significantly during 2020, remained relatively stable through 2021, then increased steadily from 2022 to mid-2025, peaking near $135.7 billion.

Total Capital

Followed a similar downward trend in 2020, recovered and grew through 2021 and 2022, peaking near $202 billion, with some fluctuations thereafter up to 2025.

Debt-to-Capital Ratio

Declined from 0.76 in early 2020 to a low of 0.61 by late 2023, indicating reduced leverage, then rose back to approximately 0.67 in 2025, suggesting increased leverage.

Total Debt

Over the observed periods, total debt exhibited a moderately fluctuating but overall increasing trend. Starting at approximately $126.5 billion, it experienced slight declines in late 2020 and early 2021, reaching a low around $108.9 billion by the end of 2020. From this point forward, total debt steadily increased, surpassing the initial levels and peaking at approximately $135.7 billion in mid-2025 before a modest reduction to $132.5 billion by the latest quarter. This pattern reflects a phase of deleveraging followed by renewed borrowing or capital raising activities contributing to increased indebtedness.

Total Assets

Total assets display a generally upward trend throughout the timeline. Beginning near $246.6 billion, assets saw minor declines in mid-2020 but progressively increased thereafter, reaching a peak of nearly $289.4 billion in late 2025. Noteworthy is the steady growth observed from mid-2021 onward, indicating potential asset acquisitions, appreciations, or investments aimed at expanding the company’s asset base. Minor dips in certain quarters, such as early to mid-2025, suggest occasional asset adjustments or disposals but do not alter the overall growth trajectory.

Debt to Assets Ratio

The debt to assets ratio exhibits a noticeable improvement, declining from 0.51 at the start to a low near 0.42 by early 2023, which indicates relatively reduced leverage or improved asset coverage of debt. This downward trend aligns with the earlier observations of asset growth outpacing debt increments during that period. However, from 2023 onward, the ratio shows slight fluctuations between 0.43 and 0.47, suggesting a balance between rising debt and asset values. The ratio remains relatively stable in the mid-0.4 range, indicating maintained leverage levels rather than significant deleveraging or increased risk.

Summary Insights

Overall, financial trends indicate an initial phase of strengthening the balance sheet with decreasing leverage through asset growth and debt reduction. Subsequently, the company transitioned into a phase of expanding both assets and liabilities, maintaining a stable leverage ratio. These patterns may reflect strategic financial management balancing growth initiatives with debt control. The gradual increase in total assets points to investment or operational expansion, while the manageable fluctuations in debt and leverage ratios suggest prudent risk management practices.

The analysis of the quarterly financial data reveals several noteworthy trends in the company's asset base, equity position, and financial leverage over the observed periods.

Total Assets

Total assets exhibited moderate fluctuations throughout the timeline. Starting from approximately $246.6 billion at the end of March 2020, assets slightly decreased in the subsequent quarters of 2020 before stabilizing around the $240 billion mark. From 2021 onwards, there was a gradual upward trend, peaking near $281.7 billion by the third quarter of 2023. However, after this peak, a minor decline is observed, with assets closing near $288.2 billion by the third quarter of 2025. This pattern indicates measured growth with some volatility in recent quarters.

Stockholders’ Equity

Stockholders’ equity demonstrated sustained growth from March 2020 through late 2023. The equity base rose from approximately $40.1 billion in March 2020 to a peak of around $74.5 billion by the third quarter of 2023. Notably, after reaching this zenith, equity values declined sharply in early 2024, dropping to the low $64 billion range, and hovered between $63 billion and $66 billion through the end of the observed quarters in 2025. This sharp decline after a period of steady increase could suggest distribution events, write-downs, or other equity-impacting occurrences.

Financial Leverage

The financial leverage ratio exhibited a clear downward trend from early 2020 to late 2023, indicating a reduction in the extent of asset financing by debt relative to equity. Starting at a high of approximately 6.15 in March 2020, the ratio steadily declined, reaching a low around 3.78 by late 2023. This implies an enhanced equity cushion relative to total assets during this period. Conversely, commencing from 2024, the leverage ratio reversed this trend and increased to above 4.4 by the first half of 2025, suggesting an uptick in leverage and possibly higher debt dependency or lower equity base in relation to assets. This reversion aligns temporally with the observed decline in stockholders’ equity.

In summary, the data portrays a company that initially strengthened its equity position and reduced leverage through improved capital structure or retained earnings, enhancing its financial stability up to late 2023. However, beginning in 2024, there is evidence of declining equity and rising leverage, which may warrant further investigation to understand underlying causes and potential impacts on financial risk.

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT)

EBIT exhibits significant volatility over the reported periods. Initially, there is a negative value in the second quarter of 2020 (-$589 million), followed by a pronounced recovery and peak in the third quarter of 2020 at $5,232 million. After this peak, EBIT declines but remains positive, fluctuating between approximately $2,000 million and $4,400 million until the fourth quarter of 2023. Starting in 2024, EBIT shows increased variability with sharp declines and recoveries, including a notable drop to -$2,341 million in the first quarter of 2025. Overall, the trend includes strong rebounds after downturns, but the latter periods display increased instability and less consistent profitability.

Automotive interest expense

Automotive interest expense remains relatively stable throughout the periods, fluctuating between approximately $150 million and $330 million. Early in the period, interest expenses slightly increase, peaking in the third quarter of 2020 at $327 million. From late 2020 onward, expenses generally trend downwards, with a gradual decline to around $200 million by the first half of 2025. This indicates some improvement in debt servicing costs or reduced borrowing levels over time.

Interest coverage ratio

Interest coverage ratio data begins from the third quarter of 2020. Initially, the ratio is strong, reflecting EBIT levels sufficient to cover interest expenses comfortably, with values ranging from 8.37 up to a peak of 15.87 in the first quarter of 2021. From that point forward, the ratio mostly remains above 10, suggesting robust earnings relative to interest costs. However, the coverage ratio displays some downward movement toward the end of the dataset. By the last reported quarter, the ratio declines significantly to 7.21, aligned with the pronounced EBIT decrease during that period, indicating a deterioration in the company's ability to cover interest expenses.