Posted on 02/16/2013 7:51:11 AM PST by ExxonPatrolUs
Interesting news for auto-watchers: Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A), the savvy conglomerate controlled by the great Warren Buffett, disclosed in an SEC filing on Thursday that it had bought 10 million shares of General Motors (NYSE: GM).
That comes on top of another 15 million shares of GM Berkshire bought earlier in 2012, bringing the total value of the company's investment in the General to nearly $700 million as of Thursday's close.
That's not chump change, even by Buffett's standards. What might Berkshire be thinking?
Is GM a value stock? The obvious guess for anyone who knows anything about Buffett's career is that he (or, more likely, Berkshire's new portfolio managers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler) thinks that GM is undervalued at current price, particularly when viewed in the context of where the business is likely to go over the next several years
I happen to agree, which is why I own (somewhat less than 25 million shares of) GM stock myself. But it requires some explaining, because GM isn't really undervalued by the most basic traditional measures. Its current price-to-earnings ratio is around 10.4, roughly the long-term norm for auto stocks.
But it may well be undervalued after taking into account the huge amount of room for improvement available in GM's global operations -- and current management's determination to make those improvements and realize GM's full value.
Big gains await GM's Europe turnaround GM lost $1.8 billion in Europe last year and expects significant losses to continue for at least another year or two. The problems are a lot like those GM had in the U.S. a decade ago: too much production capacity, too-high costs, and declining sales -- in the case of Europe, because of a deep, protracted recession.
But GM CEO Dan Akerson has set in motion a major effort to overhaul GM's sick European operation. A new management team is in place, a factory has been closed, another has been sold, a cost-saving joint-venture with French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen (NASDAQOTH: PEUGY) has been established, and a bunch of new products are coming.
GM CEO Dan Akerson reiterated on Thursday that he expects GM Europe to break even on a pre-tax basis by "mid-decade". Consider that GM made $6.19 billion in 2012. If GM had simply broken even in Europe last year, that number would have jumped to about $8 billion before taxes -- with no other changes or improvements to GM's global operations.
And the thing is, other changes and improvements are already happening.
Improvements at home are already in motion Despite posting three profitable years in a row since its emergence from bankruptcy, GM is still very much a turnaround work in progress. It still has some catching up to do before it can match Ford (NYSE: F) or Toyota's (NYSE: TM) end-to-end product quality here in the U.S. -- or for that matter, Ford's profit margins here.
But what isn't visible to casual observers is that the work needed to narrow that gap is already happening. For the past three years, GM has been working on a full-on product overhaul that is just now hitting its stride. Products like the Chevy Cruze and Sonic small cars, and last year's Cadillac ATS sedan, have proven that GM can design and build vehicles that really do compete well with the world's best.
Over the next couple of years, GM will go from having North America's oldest product lineup to its newest, as a slew of all-new cars and trucks hit its dealers. If they're competitive – and GM's recent track record inspires some confidence – those new products should improve GM's average transaction prices, driving fatter margins.
The upshot: A lot of upside for GM The case for GM isn't quite as much of a slam-dunk as the case for Ford. Ford's North American operation is already robustly healthy, and the Blue Oval's proven management team is taking the same approach to restructuring its European operation, which has problems (and losses) similar to GM's.
GM still has more challenges at home than Ford does, and unlike Ford, its management team doesn't already have one impressive turnaround under its belt. But given GM's still-impressive global scale, the potential upside may be considerably higher. It's not hard to understand why Team Buffett chose to jump in.
It's true that decades of mismanagement of General Motors led to a painful bankruptcy in 2009, but it emerged a leaner, stronger company. GM's turnaround, however, is still a work in progress. Investors around the world are wondering if GM has what it takes to reclaim its former glory. I've put together a brand-new premium research report telling you exactly what you need to know about GM and its turnaround. If you own or are thinking about owning GM, then you don't want to miss this report. Click here now to get started.
Maybe he figures he will get a cut rate deal from his crony friend Obama from a buyout from the Feds.
GM is destined to fail, though. GM were never required to reorganize their debts and it is pretty much business as usual with the taxpayers picking up the tab both from the stimulus and a waiver on taxes. As soon as the feds cut them loose, they will flounder and fail... again... and be another too big to fail company. Round two?
Maybe Buffett expects the taxpayers to continue to pay the bills at GM. Maybe that is part of the buyout agreement. Or some huge tax kickback.
Remember Buffett is all about everyone else paying their taxes and looking for huge loopholes for himself and his companies.
Spot on!
Me too! We bought the same flag waving buy American bu!!sh!t. Only we we were stuck with the POS car after it went over the 12,000 mile warranty.
They exploited American pride and desire to support Americans first to peddle their expensive POS cars.
Did GM ever pay back the TARP funds???
Warren Buffet - America’s premier crony capitalist.
Buffet is cozy with Obama, so he will be informed ahead of time when the gubbermint intends to pump more money into GM for “green jobs” or something.
He doesn’t need to be savvy market-wise. He just needs that insider information.
Well, they could always picket the streets around the house. Yeah, the Omaha police would finally at some point “spring” into action but that entire section of the Dundee neighborhood could be disrupted for a while. That would bring a lot more attention than just camping on his lawn.
Buying American?
You mean fascist, state-run, union-thug-made American?
There are plenty of “foreign” cars that are made in American factories by American workers and American management with American-made parts.
Love Motley Fool.
How much do they still owe us?
Seems to be a moving target.
Well said.
Buffett is the nations largest welfare queen. He seems to go after only products that the government has a hand in
The herd leader is moving, the herd (money managers) will follow.
Price moves up to where the WON can sell and can say, look the taxpayers made money with GM stock.
He has always been a progressive —he was and is mostly likely now head-over-heels in love with Hitlery. He will back her to the max in 2016.
WB has gotten treacherously realistic in his old age, and how he’s perfectly FINE in becoming a rich extension of the Big Brother.
Armand Hammer was to Lenin what WB is to the US power establishment.
WB is a wise, disgusting insect who is now the ultimate Inside Man.
You know what commies really end up succeeding in? In building FASCISM.
Thus Buffet wins, taxpayers still lose billions.
Global Motors is no more “American” than Mercedes or Toyota. They all have factories all over the world, shareholders from all over the world, and sell all over the world. In fact the article makes it pretty clear the profits Buffet expects to see won’t be coming from the domestic market.
Romney wanted to place GM into bankruptcy and only back the divisions that were competitive.
GM does some things well, like their trucks, which have excellent quality and probably the best styling on the market. They are competitive with the F150 which is the best selling vehicle in the US.
Maybe Buffett expects the taxpayers to continue to pay the bills at GM. Maybe that is part of the buyout agreement. Or some huge tax kickback.
I work at a company that had been recently acquired by Buffett. B-H poured in a lot of money for capital expansion. Also, the management structure has been changed considerably. This is all long term stuff. Anything Buffett acquires is due to perceived long term earning potential. As far as buying up a company looting it and breaking it up - that doesn’t seem to be his style.
The fact is GM's never fully repaid the TAXPAYERS of this country for the loans BAILOUTS that were given to Unions when GM's rightful debtholders were F***ED by the Obama Administration.
GM's also facing bankruptcy AGAIN because they've never addressed the core issue of their debt problem: PENSION OBLIGATIONS.
I suspect Buffet knows that GM's going to have to file for bankruptcy protection, get ANOTHER TAXPAYER BAILOUT at which point the Unions will finally have to take their pension haircut, which will then mean that the only one's who'll benefit from another TAXPAYER BAILOUT will be Friends of Barry.
Anyone wanna bet me?
You've gotta be kidding. GM makes the UGLIEST TRUCKS on the market, period. That Silverado is nothing but a box on wheels. No "styling" to it whatsoever.
I'll take a Ford F150/F250 over any truck GM produces in a heartbeat. Hell, I'll take a Dodge RAM or a Toyota Tundra over any truck GM produces too.
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