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- GE reported first quarter earnings that topped analyst expectations on Friday.
- The company’s power business saw profits decline by 29%, while renewables, transportation, and aviation grew.
- Shares were up more than 5% in pre-market trading.
- Follow General Electric’s stock price in real-time here.
General Electric desperately needed good news for investors, and finally found some in its first quarter earnings.
For the first four months of 2018, the company said it earned an adjusted $0.16 per share where analysts had expected $0.12, on revenues of $28.66 billion, also ahead of the expected $27.45 billion.
GE said new power orders had declined by 29% year-over-year, while renewable energy and aviation were up 15% and 13%, respectively. Transportation posted the largest annual growth, up 46%.
Shares of the Dow Jones industrial average component are now up 7% in the past week as investors looked favorably upon the company’s restated 2016 and 2017 financials.
GE has had a rough go since CEO John Flannery took over in August 2017. The company slashed its dividend in half last November, which initially sent the stock higher before slumping into the red. It also announced a surprise $6.2 billion tax charge in the fourth quarter related to its insurance business.
“The first quarter is a step forward in executing on our 2018 plan and we are seeing signs of progress in our performance. Industrial earnings, free cash flow, and margins all improved year over year,” Flannery said in a press release. “We reduced Industrial structural costs by $805 million and are on track to exceed our cost reduction goal of $2 billion in 2018.”
The company also reaffirmed its 2018 guidance, defying the cuts forecasted by some Wall Street analysts.
Shares of GE have declined by 18% since January 1.
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