(July 24, 2015) DETROIT — General Motors on Thursday reported strong earnings growth for the second quarter with net income attributable to common stockholders of $1.1 billion, or 67 cents per diluted share, which included a $1.1 billion loss from special items before tax, or 62 cents per diluted share. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) adjusted increased to $2.9 billion and EBIT-adjusted margin grew to 7.5 percent.

A strong second-quarter performance in China seemed to allay investors’ concerns that a slowdown in Chinese demand for cars would dent the company's bottom line. GM's stock rose 4 percent on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday closing at $31.54.

“The first two quarters of the year were strong as we fully capitalized on a robust North American industry and maintained our strength in China, despite the challenging conditions in that market,” said GM CEO Mary Barra.

“We said our goal was to improve our earnings and margins this year, and we are on-plan. Consistent with that, we believe our results in the second half of the year will be even better than the first half, and we’re confident we will meet our 2016 targets.”

GM’s pretax profit per share was $1.29, easily surpassing Wall Street’s forecast of $1.08.

Net revenue in the second quarter of 2015 was $38.2 billion, compared to $39.6 billion in the second quarter of 2014. The change in revenue is more than attributed to a negative net foreign currency exchange impact. Holding exchange rates constant, net revenue was $0.9 billion higher than the second quarter of 2014.

“Our plan is generating results and giving us momentum,” said Chuck Stevens, executive vice president and chief financial officer. “Record margins in North America and strong margins in China produced a second quarter that demonstrates the earnings power of this company. We expect continued strong performance in these key markets.”