General Motors Co ( GM.N ) on Wednesday forecast flat profits for 2020 and reported a better than expected fourth quarter result as it kicked off a new effort to win over investors stampeding into shares of electric car rival Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ). GM said it expects earnings per share for 2020 in a range from $5.75 to $6.25, excluding one time items, taxes and interest. Analysts are expecting GM to earn $6.23 this year on a comparable basis, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. The automaker’s shares were up slightly in pre-market trading. GM’s fourth quarter profits took a $3.6 billion hit from a 40-day United Auto Workers strike that shut down the automaker’s profitable U.S. operations. Profits from its operations in China also fell. […]