Just the Facts:
Wall Street analysts are calling GM stock a "buy."
Some banks suggest the share price could hit $50 within a year.
But the share price needs to be around $53 for taxpayers to break even.
NEW YORK — General Motors is looking better to Wall Street analysts, with several calling the stock a "buy" this week. Forty days after issuing its $23.1 billion initial public offering of New GM stock on November 17, the banks that participated in the IPO are predicting GM stock could land anywhere from the low $40 range to as high as $50 per share within a year, The Wall Street Journal reported.
On Tuesday, the stock closed at $35.32. At the IPO, the stock was offered at $33.
The Journal notes that the U.S. needs to sell the GM stock it still holds at $53 per share to break even, but analysts still expect the U.S. government to sell off the rest of its GM stake in 2011 rather than slowly over a period of years. During the IPO, the government cut its stake in the automaker from 61 percent to 33 percent.
One thing propelling Wall Street analysts to optimism about GM is the 2012 launch schedule. New Chevrolet Sonic and Malibu rollouts, along with the launch of the Cadillac ATS and XTS, are expected to help GM's image and its bottom line. The following year, GM will launch its next-generation GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado as well as the new Chevrolet Impala.
