GE beats market forecasts on Q3 earnings, revenue misses

General Electric beat Wall Street expectations on third quarter earnings on Tuesday, as its jet engine operations continued to bounce back from their Covid-19 valleys.

The company reported adjusted earnings of 57 cents per share for the three month period, which was well ahead of the 43 cents pencilled in by a Bloomberg survey.

Sales fell short of forecasts, however, coming in at $18.4bn, compared to the $19.3bn picked by the market.

Looking ahead, however, GE hiked its profit forecast for the year to a range of between $1.80 and $2.10 per share, having previously forecast an earnings floor of $1.20 per share for the year.

The aviation division was behind much of the company’s fortunes for the quarter, with its jet engine manufacturing and servicing operation seeing revenue rise 9.7% to $5.4bn.

GE had warned in September that supply issues for materials and components was proving an issue for its aviation and healthcare operations, as well as a labour crunch amid the ‘great resignation’ being documented in the United Stats.

The company said at the time that those issues were likely to exist for the rest of the year, causing a particular issue for revenue and profit margins in its medical scanner unit.

“Orders grew, margins expanded, our overall cash performance was significantly better, and aviation is building momentum and showing continued signs of recovery,” said GE’s chief executive officer Larry Culp.

Shares in GE were last up 1.65% in pre-market trading in New York, having closed up 1.2% on Monday at $105.30.