GM approves new $6B stock buyback on strong demand for gas-powered vehicles

General Motors said Tuesday its board approved a fresh repurchase authorization to buy back up to $6 billion worth of the automaker's common stock, a month after beating Wall Street estimates in the first quarter on strong demand for gas-powered vehicles.

GM on Tuesday announced another stock buyback of up to $6 billion shares. (REUTERS/Rebecca Cook / Reuters Photos)

"We are very focused on the profitability of our ICE [internal combustion engine] business, we're growing and improving the profitability of our EV [electric vehicle] business and deploying our capital efficiently," GM executive vice president and CFO Paul Jacobson said in a statement announcing the move. "This allows us to continue returning cash to shareholders."

GM previously announced a $10 billion share buyback in November, and said Tuesday that roughly $1.4 billion in capacity remains under that agreement. In the first quarter, the company repurchased $300 million shares, and plans to buy back the remaining $1.1 billion by the end of the second quarter.

Chevrolet pickup trucks sit in a parking lot outside the GM Fort Wayne Assembly Plant on May 30, 2019 in Roanoke, Indiana. GM raised its annual forecast after strong sales of its gas-powered trucks in the first quarter. (Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The Detroit automaker did not give a time frame for the latest buyback but said the move will allow it to "opportunistically repurchase shares" after the completion of the existing plan.

Shares of the company, which has a market capitalization of nearly $54 billion, were up 1.8% in early trading. They have risen about 50% since GM announced the $10 billion stock buyback in late November.