(Adds details from regulatory filing in paragraph 15, updates

stock trading in 1st paragraph)

    By Nora Eckert

       DETROIT, April 23 (Reuters) - General Motors GM.N on

Tuesday posted quarterly results that topped Wall Street targets

and the automaker raised its annual forecast, citing stable

pricing and demand for gasoline-engine vehicles, and its shares

rose 4.4%.

    Michigan-based GM boosted its adjusted pre-tax profit

projection for the year to $12.5 billion to $14.5 billion, from

its previous range of $12 billion to $14 billion.  

    “Our consumer has been remarkably resilient in this period

of higher interest rates,” GM Chief Financial Officer Paul

Jacobson said.

        He said demand held up well in the first quarter and

pricing was stable in April, but GM still plans for pricing to

decline 2% to 2-1/2% for the rest of the year.    

    Despite struggles in China and with EVs,

stronger-than-expected vehicle pricing with gasoline-powered

trucks pleased investors.

    "There ... is the reality that the pricing is staying

stronger for longer than anybody anticipated," said Tim

Piechowski, portfolio manager at ACR Alpine Capital Research in

St. Louis, which owns GM shares.

    "The engine of the company is truck and SUV at this point,"

he added. "They're just generating substantial profit and free

cash flow that will continue to fund the initiatives in EV. Full

steam ahead."

        Some analysts were more cautious.

    GM could lose additional market share in the near and

intermediate term due to its lack of hybrid gasoline-electric

vehicles and cash flow will be hampered by heavy planned

spending on electric vehicles, CFRA Research analyst Garrett

Nelson said in a research note.    

    The automaker reported that net income in the first quarter

rose 24.4% over the year-ago period to $3 billion, on a 7.6%

rise in revenue to $43 billion.

    Adjusted earnings per share of $2.62 beat the average Wall

Street target of $2.15, according to LSEG data. Revenue topped

the Wall Street target of $41.9 billion in the March quarter.

    While the company started 2024 strong, CEO Mary Barra still

has two large challenges ahead: turning around GM's shrinking

sales in China, and salvaging Cruise, its robotaxi unit.

    Cruise halted operations late last year after one of its

self-driving cars dragged a woman down a San Francisco street.

Company officials shared earlier this year that GM would cut

spending on this unit by $1 billion. The robotaxi business lost

$2.7 billion last year, not including $500 million in

restructuring costs incurred in the fourth quarter as the unit

cut staff. GM spent $400 million on Cruise in the first quarter,

and expects full-year expenses to hit about $1.7 billion.

    Barra said the business is making progress, citing the

return of its vehicles to roads in Phoenix, Arizona, earlier

this month, with human drivers and no passengers. She told

analysts on a conference call that GM is exploring funding

operations for Cruise, including taking outside investment.

        GM subsequently said in a quarterly regulatory filing

that it expects Cruise will "require" additional funding this

year to support continued technology development.

    GM's business in China – previously the automaker’s largest

market – has also been faltering. Chinese automakers and Tesla

TSLA.O have gobbled up market share in the region, aided by

deep price cuts and refreshed technology offerings.

    GM lost $106 million in China in the quarter, which CFO

Jacobson told reporters was less than his team expected, as it

worked through inventory.

    Jacobson said the company expects a profit in China for the

second quarter and the year. Asked if GM would close or sell its

business there, Barra said GM was committed long term to the

world's largest auto market.

    "There's a place for GM to play and grow share," she said of

China.

    The carmaker and its crosstown rival Ford Motor F.N are

counting on profit from gas-engine trucks to ease investors'

concerns as they continue to funnel cash into costly EV

development. GM said it gained more than 3 points of market

share in full-size pickup trucks in the quarter from rivals,

which includes Ford and Stellantis.

    GM has not broken out financial results for its EV business,

but Jacobson stuck to previous forecasts for turning a profit.

He still expects so-called variable profit, which excludes fixed

costs, to be positive by the second half of 2024.

   "We also continue to see sequential and year-over-year

improvements in profitability as we benefit from scale, material

cost and mix improvements," Barra said.

    The company's joint venture with LG Energy Solution

373220.KS, called Ultium Cells, is ramping up production of

battery cells at plants in Ohio and Tennessee, Barra said.  

    Questions have increased about battery-powered vehicle

demand. This month, EV leader Tesla laid off more than 10% of

its global staff and slashed prices across several markets.

    Tesla will release quarterly earnings on Tuesday, and is

expected to post its first revenue drop and lowest gross margin

in nearly four years, according to LSEG data.

    Last year, GM outlined a $10 billion stock buyback on the

heels of reaching a costly new labor agreement with the United

Auto Workers union. GM completed the first tranche in the first

quarter, and is on track to reduce its outstanding share count

to under 1 billion, Barra said.

(Reporting by Nora Eckert in Detroit, additional reporting by

Ben Klayman in Detroit and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru

Editing by Peter Henderson, Matthew Lewis, Chizu Nomiyama, Nick

Zieminski and David Gregorio)

((Nora.Eckert@thomsonreuters.com;))