NEW YORK -
A Credit Suisse analyst on Monday slashed his price target and earnings estimates for General Motors Corp., citing the automaker's $15.5 billion second-quarter loss.

Christopher J. Ceraso cut his price target for GM by half to $7, predicting that the Detroit-based company will burn through as much as $6.2 billion in cash in the second half of this year.

"Every region fell short of our forecast, but the majority of the disappointment relative to our earnings-per-share forecast came from North America (a $4.4 billion loss versus our forecast loss of $2.2 billion), and GMAC (a loss of $1.2 billion, vs. our forecast loss of $100 million)," Ceraso wrote in a note to investors.

Ceraso moved his third-quarter estimate to a loss of $3.27 per share from a loss of $2.60 per share and fourth-quarter estimate to a loss of $2.60 per share from a loss of $1.90 per share.

Analysts, on average, expect per-share losses of $1.89 and $2.18 for the third and fourth quarters, respectively, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

For the full year, Ceraso said he expects GM to post a loss of $17.69 per share, down from his previous prediction of a loss of $7.81 per share. Analysts expect a loss of $6.34 per share.

The analyst also said that he now expects GM to post a per-share loss of $9.30 for 2009, down from his previous prediction of a loss of $1.91. For 2010, Ceraso cut his per-share profit estimate by 76 cents to $2.55 per share.

"GM has dug itself a very deep hole, from which it will be difficult to fully extricate itself," Ceraso said, referencing the 2010 estimate.

"Even assuming an about 2 million-unit rebound in U.S. industry demand and significant help from the 2007 UAW agreement, we still think GM North America will lose money."

Analysts, on average, expect a per-share loss of $3.33 per share in 2009 and a profit of $2.75 per share in 2010.