General Motors vs Tesla (GM vs TSLA)
Side by side from their SEC filings: revenue, margins, growth, returns and valuation, plus short interest, insider activity and institutional ownership.
General Motors is the larger company by revenue ($168.0B vs $94.8B). Tesla carries the larger market value ($1.5T vs $78.1B). Tesla has grown revenue faster over the last 4 fiscal years (+76.2% cumulative vs +47.9%). Tesla runs the higher operating margin (4.6% vs 1.7%). General Motors trades at the lower trailing P/E (38.5x vs 322.8x).
About General Motors
General Motors Company designs, builds, and sells trucks, crossovers, cars, and automobile parts globally under brands such as Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC. The company serves both mainstream and luxury markets with internal combustion engine and electric vehicles, and it provides automotive financing services through its General Motors Financial segment. GM also develops software-enabled vehicle services like OnStar and advanced driver-assistance systems, and it operates autonomous driving technology efforts through its subsidiary Cruise.
About Tesla
Tesla, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and leases high-performance fully electric vehicles and energy generation and storage systems. Its automotive products include consumer electric vehicles such as the Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X, Cybertruck, and the Tesla Semi, along with related services like vehicle leasing, insurance, and Supercharging. Tesla also offers energy storage products like Powerwall and Megapack, solar energy generation systems including solar panels and Solar Roof, and develops AI-based technologies for autonomous driving and robotics, serving individual consumers, commercial clients, utilities, and energy markets globally.
Head to head (GM FY2025 vs TSLA FY2025)
| Metric | GMFY2025 | TSLAFY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $167.97B | $94.83B |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -2.1% | -2.9% |
| Gross margin | — | 18.0% |
| Operating margin | 1.7% | 4.6% |
| Net margin | 1.6% | 4.0% |
| Net income | $2.70B | $3.79B |
| Diluted EPS | $3.27 | $1.08 |
| FCF margin | 10.5% | 6.6% |
| ROE | 4.3% | 4.6% |
| Long-term debt / equity | — | 0.08× |
| Market cap | $78.07B | $1.45T |
| P/E | 38.5× | 322.8× |
Fundamentals are from each company’s SEC filings (GM FY2025, TSLA FY2025). ROE is net income over fiscal-year-end equity; long-term debt / equity counts non-current term debt only. P/E and market cap are derived from stored market prices, last retrieved on a rolling basis and typically within the past week.
Five-year trend (as reported)
| Revenue | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | $113.59B | $143.97B | $157.66B | $171.61B | $167.97B |
| TSLA | $53.82B | $81.46B | $96.77B | $97.69B | $94.83B |
Peer standing
Where each company ranks among the 403 Consumer Discretionary companies, on the same scale. Each figure is ranked only against peers that report it. Percentiles describe position in the distribution, not a rating.
| Metric | GM | TSLA |
|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 1.7%39th percentile of 348 | 4.6%54th percentile of 348 |
| Net margin | 1.6%43rd percentile of 377 | 4.0%59th percentile of 377 |
| FCF margin | 10.5%83rd percentile of 351 | 6.6%65th percentile of 351 |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -2.1%30th percentile of 394 | -2.9%27th percentile of 394 |
| ROE | 4.3%42nd percentile of 343 | 4.6%44th percentile of 343 |
| P/E | 38.5×85th percentile of 249 | 322.8×99th percentile of 249 |
| Short interest (days to cover) | 4.71d60th percentile of 401 | 2.15d27th percentile of 401 |
Short interest
| FINRA settlement data | GM | TSLA |
|---|---|---|
| Shares sold short | 21.9M | 69.2M |
| Change vs prior settlement | +9.2% | +1.0% |
| Days to cover | 4.71 | 2.15 |
| As of settlement | 2026-08-14 | 2026-08-14 |
Source: FINRA Consolidated Short Interest. FINRA is the owner and source of the FINRA-supplied data; republishing or redistributing it is not permitted. Not presented as a percentage of float. No FINRA endorsement of this product is implied.
Insider activity (last 90 days)
| Form 4 activity (codes P/S) | GM | TSLA |
|---|---|---|
| Buys | 0 | 0 |
| Sells | 14 ($59.2M) | 1 ($1.0M) |
Non-derivative purchases (code P) and sales (code S) reported on SEC Form 4, which may be open-market or private (grants, exercises and tax withholding excluded). For context, about 15% of covered companies saw any reported insider purchase (code P) in a 90-day window.
Held by the same investors
8 tracked 13F managers hold both General Motors and Tesla as of their latest quarterly filings: AQR Capital Management, Citadel Advisors, D. E. Shaw, Gotham Asset Management, Millennium Management, Renaissance Technologies, Two Sigma Investments, Viking Global Investors. See which superinvestors hold your own portfolio with the smart money checker.
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Data sourced from SEC EDGAR. Figures are as-reported and may be unaudited or restated; verify against the source filings before relying on them. Comparisons are descriptive (higher or lower on a reported figure), not a rating or a recommendation. Informational only. Not investment advice.