GM's ability to stay in the black during a challenging first quarter earned the company rare plaudits from Wall Street. Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner upgraded his rating of GM's stock to "buy" last week.
"GM's strong 1Q performance and forward-looking outlook, in our view demonstrate the benefit from its proactive actions to transform the business, right size its costs and boost profitability," Rosner said in a report to clients.
After drawing $16 billion from its existing credit lines in March, GM sold $4 billion in bonds last week and was talking with banks to borrow $2 billion more in an effort to maintain an investment-grade credit rating, Bloomberg reported. GM is rated one notch above junk status, and falling below that threshold could rattle shareholders and make it harder for the company to continue making all of its planned investments.
S&P Global Ratings downgraded Ford to junk status in March and placed GM on credit watch. Ford has since postponed its planned launch of an autonomous vehicle commercial service from 2021 to 2022. Ford also canceled a project to jointly develop an EV with Rivian.
But officials with Ford and FCA said their EV plans, which are less extensive than GM's, remain on track. Ford is moving forward on its 2021 Mustang Mach-E electric crossover, which is scheduled to launch this year. FCA said it remains focused on its Ducato battery-electric vehicle in Europe.