General Electric Co. GE shares,
skyrocketed 4.8% in pre-market trading on Tuesday after the diversified industrial conglomerate reported a fourth-quarter profit that lost expectations, but revenue and free cash flow exceeded forecasts. Net income increased to $ 2.44 billion, or $ 2.27 per share, from $ 538 million, or 6 cents per share, in the prior year period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share fell from 20 cents to 8 cents, to lose the FactSet consensus of 9 cents. Revenue fell 16% to $ 21.93 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $ 21.75 billion, as all four business segments exceeded expectations. Industrial free cash flow was $ 4.4 billion, compared to the previous projection of at least $ 2.5 billion. “The fourth quarter marked the end of strong free cash flow for a challenging year, reflecting the results of better operations, as well as strong and growing orders in Energy and Renewable Energy,” said Chief Executive Larry Culp. For 2021, GE expects adjusted EPS from 15 cents to 25 cents, below the current FactSet consensus of 37 cents, and FCF of $ 2.5 billion to $ 4.5 billion, while BofA Securities analyst Andrew Obin anticipated the FCF guidance of about $ 1.5 billion to $ 3.5 billion. The stock rose 48.9% in the last three months, while the S&P 500 SPX,
gained 13.4%.
