Low oil prices hurt GE’s profit

Article Excerpt

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. $30 (New York symbol GE; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 9.2 billion; Market cap: $276.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ge.com) is a leading maker of industrial machinery, including jet engines, power plant equipment and locomotives. It also makes medical gear and lighting products. In the three months ended December 31, 2016, GE’s revenue fell 2.4%, to $33.1 billion from $33.9 billion a year earlier. The decline is mainly because low oil prices have hurt demand for the company’s drilling and related equipment. However, GE’s sale of renewable energy gear and power plant turbines increased. Earnings in the quarter fell 19.5%, to $4.1 billion from $5.1 billion. Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings declined at a slower rate of 11.5%, to $0.46 from $0.52. Those figures exclude unusual items, including costs related to the company’s plan to shrink the size of its financing division (GE Capital). GE expects its earnings…