Citi Previews GM Q4

In a report released this morning, Citi said that it believes an in-line quarter for General Motors GM with a reassuring outlook should allay recent investor concerns that have lingered since Ford's F Q4 miss. “In addition, recent checks suggest that GM's February US market share may remain above the 18.6% 2011 consensus, with industry incentives remaining tame,” Citi writes. “At 3.7x 2011E EBITDAP with a product cycle looming, GM remains our top 2011 idea along with Lear LEA.” “We expect EBIT (per GM's definition) to emerge as the focus metric in Q4,” Citi continued. “We have been forecasting Q4 EBIT at just under $700mln, which we continue to deem as reasonably conservative. Though official consensus is a bit higher at ~$900mln, recent market reports lead us to believe that some buy-side estimates are nearer our more conservative forecast.” General Motors closed Friday at $36.51.