GE stock gains after profit and FCF beats, while revenue surprisingly fell

Shares of General Electric Co. GE, +1.20% rose 1.0% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the industrial conglomerate reported third-quarter profit and industrial free cash flow that beat expectations, but revenue that surprisingly fell, while providing an upbeat full-year earnings outlook.

On a net per-share basis, GE swung to earnings of $1.08 from a loss of $1.09 in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted EPS rose to 57 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 43 cents. Revenue slipped 0.5% to $18.43 billion from $18.53 billion, while the FactSet consensus was for a rise to $19.29 billion. Industrial free cash flow was $1.7 billion, while the estimates of two analysts surveyed by FactSet ranged from $670.0 million to $1.07 billion, with an average of $870.5 million. For 2021, the company narrowed its guidance range to $3.75 billion to $4.75 billion from $3.5 billion to $5.0 billion. Among GE’s businesses, revenue for Aviation rose 10% to $5.40 billion, but missed the FactSet consensus of $5.59 billion; Healthcare revenue fell 5% to $4.34 billion, below expectations of $4.60 billion; Power revenue was little changed at $4.26 billion, above forecasts of $3.82 billion; and Renewable Energy revenue declined 7% to $4.21 billion, missing expectations of $4.66 billion. GE raised its 2021 adjusted EPS guidance range to $1.80 to $2.10 from $1.20 to $2.00. GE’s stock has gained 1.9% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.47% has tacked on 3.3%.