Nobody expected General Motors Company (GM) to walk into its first-quarter 2026 earnings with a Supreme Court ruling in its back pocket. But it happened.

A 6-3 Supreme Court decision in February ruled certain tariffs levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act illegal, and GM booked roughly $500 million of that benefit in Q1, as CNBC reported, helping the automaker deliver adjusted earnings of $3.70 per share against Wall Street‘s $2.62 expectation, according to the earnings statement.

Even stripping out that legal windfall entirely, GM’s underlying business still beat expectations and grew approximately 7.5% year over year. A detail CFO Paul Jacobson made sure to emphasize on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday.

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