A logo will be displayed next to a gas turbine at the General Electric Co. power plant. (GE) in Greenville, South Carolina, USA, on Tuesday, January 10, 2017. General Electric Co. will publish profit figures on January 20th. .
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Shares of General Electric rose more than 6% in trading before trading on Tuesday after the company reported better-than-expected free industrial cash flow for the fourth quarter and a rosy outlook for this quarter. year.
The company closed the fourth quarter with $ 4.373 billion in free industrial cash flows, a surprise after CEO Larry Culp projected at least $ 2.5 billion over the past three months of the year. The strong quarter pushed the company’s free industrial cash flow into positive territory during the year.
GE also projected that it would generate between $ 2.5 billion and $ 4.5 billion in free industrial cash flows by 2021.
The company also reported revenue for the fourth quarter that slightly exceeded analysts ’expectations, while its profits were lower than forecast as the industrial giant continues to withstand the coronavirus pandemic.
Below is GE’s performance compared to what Wall Street expected, based on analysts ’average estimates compiled by Refinitiv:
- Adjusted EPS: 8 cents against 9 cents provided.
- Revenue: $ 21.93 million vs. $ 21.83 million
Shares have plummeted in recent months, sparked by a surprise third-quarter earnings reported in October that saw shares rise more than 70 percent in the fourth quarter. Positive news about the Covid-19 vaccine, which bodes well for the conglomerate’s besieged aviation sector, has maintained the increase.
And some investors are optimistic about the company’s performance under Culp, mainly because it expects a positive cash flow for 2021. The company has continued to pay off its debt during the pandemic and reduce costs, for example, with layoffs. to your aviation business.
“As 2020 progressed, we significantly improved GE’s profitability and cash performance despite a still difficult macro environment,” Culp said in a statement. “The fourth quarter marked a strong free cash flow to a challenging year, reflecting the results of better operations as well as strong orders and improvements in energy and renewable energy.”
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