As previously reported, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas downgraded General Motors to Equal Weight from Overweight following the stock's 40% rise over the past year, which he attributes to investors having "finally noticed" the company's "bold and difficult moves" to reposition the core business.

However, he believes the consensus view is now that GM is substantially ahead of both OEM and tech firm competition in the area of fully autonomous transport and expectations are also high on GM's ability and willingness to unlock value through strategic action. Jonas adds that market expectations for the value of such a move is "well into the many tens of billions of dollars," which greatly exceeds his estimates of $1B-$2B.

He maintains his $43 price target on GM shares.