Toyota's op earnings bigger than GM's market cap

Posted by: Ian Rowley on November 7, 2007

Yesterday’s contrasting results announcements once again highlighted the huge earnings gulf between Toyota and GM. For the six months through September, Toyota’s operating earnings rose 16.3% to $11.2 billion, while GM posted a huge $39 billion loss.

But perhaps even more disturbing is that after stock falls at GM, and an upward revison to Toyota’s earnings, the Japanese company’s expected operating profits for this year are now greater than GM’s market cap.

At yesterday’s results announcement in Tokyo, finance chief Takeshi Suzuki said that Toyota now expects to make operating profits of $20.2 billion this financial year, $440 million higher than earlier stated and a figure still considered conservative by analysts. By the end of Wednesday trading, which saw GM’s stock price plunge 6% to $33.95, the market valued the world’s biggest automaker at just $19.21 billion.