Plant closings send GM to 2Q loss, but signs of improvement

Even though General Motors was able to reopen its U.S. factories for the last half of the second quarter, the company still lost $806 million from April through June. The Detroit automaker had to close its plants from March 18 to May 18 due to the coronavirus, but production didn't resume fast enough to hold off a net loss. GM counts revenue when vehicles are shipped from its factories, so it had little money coming in for seven weeks in April and May. The company reported a loss of 50 cents per share excluding one-time items. That was better than Wall Street expected, with analysts polled by FactSet predicting a $1.77 per-share loss. Revenue was cut in half to $16.78 billion, and that also beat estimates.