GM is sinking despite a fourth-quarter earnings beat

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General Motors is down 4.59% at $35.14 after the company reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 earnings on Tuesday.

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The automaker said fourth-quarter net income fell to $1.19 a share, factoring out one-time items, in part because of $500 million in foreign-exchange losses, and the company forecast that 2017 profits would be flat to slightly up from 2016.

The adjusted result beat analyst expectations of $1.17 a share.

GM forecast adjusted earnings per share for all of 2017 would range between $6.00 and $6.50 a share, compared with $6.12 a share for all of 2016.

A strong theme in GM's business for several years has been capital efficiency and the return of capital to shareholders - a theme that defined 2016.

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The strong results for 2016 came on the back of strong sales, due in part to cheap gas and an improving economy.

"GM sold a record 10 million vehicles around the world, up 1.2% from 2015," the company said in a statement.

General Motors

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