General Electric's quarterly earnings rise on industrial sales
General Electric (GE) rose 20 cents to $24.48 Friday after posting better-than-expected earnings and saying their are growth opportunities moving forward.
GE posted net earnings of $5.15 billion, or 51 cents a share, up 61% from $3.2 billion, or 32 cents, in the year -ago quarter.
Revenue rose 4% to $42 billion from $40.3 billion The company's industrial unit accounted for $31.8 billion of the quarter's revenue, up 6% from the year-ago quarter, on rising orders for power and water equipment.
GE had placed a major bet on oil and gas, but with crude oil prices down, the unit's revenue was flat and orders dropped 10%.
"GE ended the year with strong fourth-quarter industrial earnings and margin growth,'' said CEO Jeff Immelt. "The environment remains volatile, but we continue to see infrastructure growth opportunities."
Full-year revenue was up 2% to $148.6 billion, while fiscal year net earnings rose 17% to $15.2 billion, or $1.50 a share.