General Motors shares close lower on Friday, company to idle Indiana facility for two weeks in April as chip crunch persists

General Motors Co (GM) said last week that it would idle for two weeks in April its assembly facility in Indiana, where it builds Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 models, due to continuing semiconductor chip shortages.

The company said it intended to halt production at its Fort Wayne assembly facility for two weeks, starting April 4th.

“There is still uncertainty and unpredictability in the semiconductor supply base, and we are actively working with our suppliers to mitigate potential issues moving forward,” the US auto maker said in a statement.

Still, according to GM, it has “seen better consistency in semiconductor supply through the first quarter compared to last year as a whole. This has translated into improvement in our production and deliveries during the first three months of the year.”

General Motors shares closed lower for the fifth time in the past ten trading sessions in New York on Friday. The stock went down 1.58% ($0.70) to $43.65, after touching an intraday low at $43.40. The latter has been a price level not seen since March 21st ($43.22).

Shares of General Motors Company have retreated 25.55% so far in 2022 compared with a 4.68% loss for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2021, General Motors’ stock went up 40.80%, thus, it outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 26.89% gain.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to TipRanks, at least 12 out of 16 surveyed investment analysts had rated General Motors Company’s stock as “Buy”, while 4 – as “Hold”. The median price target on the stock stands at $73.44.