Ford Yields Nearly 5%. GM Is Buying Back $20 Billion in Stock. Which Is Better?
Two automakers posted Q3 results, then sent shareholders in opposite directions: one keeps mailing checks while the other shrinks its share count. For retirees counting on income, the safer-looking choice may not be the obvious one.
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Ford (NYSE:F | F Price Prediction) and General Motors (NYSE:GM) both reported Q3 2026 results in late October. What they told shareholders later was very different. Ford held its dividend at $0.15 per quarter. GM declared $0.18 and approved a new $20 billion buyback. If you are retired or close to it, how each company pays you out matters more than the headline earnings.
Ford Pays You Cash. GM Buys Back Its Stock.
Ford’s annualized dividend is $0.60. At the $12.44 November 6 close, that works out to a yield of about 4.8%, which is real spending money. GM pays $0.72 a year on an $86.17 share price, a yield of about 0.8%. GM uses most of its free cash for buybacks instead, with $6.3 billion bought back so far this year.
| Income Metric | Ford | GM |
|---|---|---|
| Forward Yield | 4.8% | 0.8% |
| 2026 Adjusted FCF Guidance | $6.0B to $7.0B | $11.5B to $12.5B |
| Dividend Cost vs. Low End of FCF Guidance | 39% | 5% |
| Debt/Equity | 4.66 | 2.13 |
Ford Has Less Room to Spare, but Still Enough
Ford’s dividend costs about $2.35 billion a year. That leaves a comfortable but modest buffer. Trucks bring in most of the cash. F-Series had its lowest incentive spend of the quarter. Software, services and parts now make up about 10% of revenue, and management calls that revenue countercyclical, meaning it tends to hold up when the economy slows. The main threat to the payout is Model e. Ford expects an EV loss of about $4 billion this year, on top of roughly $2.5 billion in higher commodity costs. CFO Sherry House said that “the progress isn’t going to be linear.”
GM’s payout is very safe, at about $611 million a year. North American trucks drove EBIT-adjusted to $3.59 billion, with an 8.7% margin. Its weak spot is history. GM paid $0.38 a quarter before the 2020 suspension and returned to just $0.09.
Commodity Costs Could Squeeze Both Next Year
Ford expects 2027 profit to land “roughly in line with this year” despite about $2 billion in outside cost pressure. GM says commodity prices need to ease before it can feel confident about growing earnings in 2027. The key question is whether Ford’s warranty savings keep paying for its EV spending without cutting into free cash flow. Shareholders must own Ford before the November 10, 2026 ex-dividend date to receive the next check.
Why Ford Gets My Vote for Income
For me, Ford offers the stronger income profile. A yield near 4.8% pays real bills, and Ford has added special dividends before, including $0.30 in February 2025. If you are trying to turn a mid six-figure balance into monthly spending money, we sketched out what that looks like in a free guide here. GM is the stronger business overall, and its 26.24% one-year gain shows it. That return comes mostly through the share price, though. I would change my view if Model e losses grow or Ford’s free cash flow falls toward the cost of the dividend.
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Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.
When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.
