General Motors vs Tesla
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put General Motors and Tesla side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- General Motors is the larger business, with $185.0B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $94.8B for Tesla, about 2.0 times as much.
- General Motors grew revenue faster (−1.3%, against −2.9%).
- Tesla kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (4.6% operating margin, against 1.6%).
- General Motors turned more of its sales into free cash flow (9.5% FCF margin, against 6.6%).
- Tesla earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (7.2%, against 1.5%).
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
General Motors
GM
4/10
Revenue growthFCF marginPiotroski F-scoreShare count change
Tesla
TSLA
6/10
5-year growthOperating marginNet marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityNet debt / EBITDA
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | GM FY25 | TSLA FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $67.7B | $1.39T |
| Revenue | $185.0B | $94.8B |
| Free cash flow | $17.6B | $6.2B |
| Net income | $2.7B | $3.8B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −1.3% | −2.9% |
| 5-year growth | 8.6% | 24.6% |
| Share count change | −13.8% | 0.9% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 18.0% |
| Operating margin | 1.6% | 4.6% |
| Net margin | 1.5% | 4.0% |
| FCF margin | 9.5% | 6.6% |
| Return on capital | 1.5% | 7.2% |
| Return on equity | 4.3% | 4.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $103.9B | −$37.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 7.0x | −4.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $6.7B | $0.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 16.6x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 5 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.