General Electric Co. increased its January-March revenue 14% year over year and ended the quarter with earnings per share versus a loss a year earlier.
The company said in a news release that it posted adjusted earnings of 27 cents per share in the first quarter, compared with a loss of 9 cents per share in the same period a year earlier. Experts polled by FactSet had on average expected earnings of 14 cents per share.
GE’s quarterly revenue rose to $14.49 billion from $12.68 billion a year earlier. The consensus analyst forecast for that figure was $13.3 billion.
Free cash flow was positive at $102 million, while analysts had expected a negative $645 million.
Tuesday’s report was the first to exclude GE HealthCare. The unit became an independent company and went public Jan. 4.
Revenues in renewable energy were down 1%, to $2.84 billion, while revenues in energy were up 9%, to $3.82 billion. Both businesses are part of the GE Vernova unit.
Revenues at the aviation division (GE Aerospace) jumped 25%, to $7 billion.
The company’s total orders received last quarter rose 25% to $17.6 billion.
GE Vernova is expected to spin off into a stand-alone business in early 2024, with GE renaming itself GE Aerospace.
GE raised the lower end of its adjusted earnings per share forecast by 10 cents and now expects it to be in the $1.7-2 range. The free cash flow forecast has been improved to $3.5-4.2 billion from $3.4-4.2 billion. Revenue growth is still expected to be 7-9% (high single digits).
GE stock is up 1.2% in premarket trading Tuesday. The company’s capitalization has risen 24% in the past three months, to $108.4 billion.
