General Electric is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results before the market opens on Tuesday, which could be the last report before the eventual breakup of the 150-year-old company.
General Electric General Electric shares,
It has been on fire in the run-up to the latest results. After having its best year ever in 2023, the stock was up another 3.1% year to date through Monday afternoon, outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 1.7%.
Helping to fuel gains, the stock rose on the day the last two quarterly reports were released, and the post-earnings gains were the largest since the third- and fourth-quarter results of 2019 were announced.
is reading: General Electric shares are seeing their biggest rise in more than two years after posting big profits, raising expectations
As for Tuesday's results, keep in mind that the stock hasn't posted post-earnings gains for three straight quarters in more than five years, based on FactSet data going back to the third quarter of 2018.
Meanwhile, Wall Street has become more optimistic about GE's bottom line in recent months. The FactSet consensus for adjusted earnings per share rose to 89 cents as of Monday, from 85 cents since the end of the third quarter.
The company has beaten adjusted EPS expectations in the past four quarters and in 10 of the past 11 quarters.
The FactSet revenue consensus currently stands at $17.27 billion, which is just over $17.25 billion at the end of the third quarter.
In GE's third-quarter results, the big earnings and revenue were driven by strength in GE's aviation business, which saw revenue rise more than 25% compared to the same period last year. For the most recent quarter, the consensus for aviation revenue of $8.5 billion suggests year-over-year growth of 11.6%.
Among other Q4 metrics investors should keep an eye on, the average estimate of two analysts surveyed by FactSet is free cash flow of $2.77 billion, which compares to free cash flow of $1.67 billion in the third quarter and $4.29 billion. in the last year. .
The FactSet consensus expects energy revenue to reach $4.89 billion, down 2.8% from last year, and renewable energy revenue to grow 8.6% to $3.71 billion.
In the third quarter, the company said that due to strength in GE Aerospace and improvement in GE Vernova, its full-year adjusted EPS guidance range was strengthened to $2.55-$2.65 from $2.10-$2.30.
For 2024, the current FactSet consensus is for adjusted EPS of $4.59.
Separately, GE said it will spin off its power and renewables businesses under the GE Vernova name at the beginning of the second quarter, and the remaining business will be relaunched under the GE Aerospace name, with shares of both companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Stock trading. The company spun off its healthcare business as GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. GEHC,
In December 2022.
While the first quarter results in the second half of April will cover pre-breakup results, it is possible that the report will be released after the breakup has occurred.
