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General Electric
reports earnings in the second quarter before the market opens for trading on Wednesday.
General Electric (ticker: GE) is still in turnaround mode under new CEO Larry Culp . This means that earnings do not mean as much as management comments on cost cuts and cash flow. There are other issues to discuss as well, such as what
Boeing
(BA) said about GE's new GE9X engine on July 24, when the aviation giant reported second-quarter figures.
Here are some key points to see on Wednesday, along with some recent history:
- Wall Street expects the company to earn 12 cents per share from $ 28.5 billion in sales. But the revenue will take the back seat for cash flow guidance. Don't forget, first-quarter revenue leaders said GE industrial companies would spend between $ 0 and $ 2 billion in cash this year.
- What's more, CFO in Jamie Miller told investors at a conference GE expects to burn $ 1 to $ 2 billion cash during the second quarter. Recently, however, Wall Street analysts – especially two bearish analysts from JPMorgan and Gordon Haskett – wrote GE could report less combustion than Wednesday. Strangely, better cash flow is partly due to the basic support of the Boeing 737 MAX jet. Smaller new engine shipments for GE offset sales to more aftermarket parts and service. New engines are typically sold at low profit margins, and GE, as well as other aviation suppliers, constitute it when the equipment is serviced over time.
- Boeing will also be featured prominently in the GE Second Quarter Revenue Conference for another reason. Boeing said that on July 24, GE had problems with certain components of the new GE9X engine – the most powerful aircraft engine GE has ever used on the latest 777 jets. (The first new 777s are scheduled to be delivered in 2020.) Investors want to understand the issues Boeing referred to in more detail and GE's plan to fix issues identified during engine testing.
- Investors also want Boeing's quantification of cash flows expected in 2019 and 2020.
- At GE Capital, investors should be ready for the financial arm to make less money than it did in the first quarter of this year. GE Capital made $ 171 million from January to March. For the full year 2019, GE expects Capital to lose between $ 500 and $ 800 million.
- At GE's troubled power division, several cost cuts and layoffs could be announced. Management can also choose to address the Chinese power market in more detail by competitor
Siemens(SIE.Germany) raised fears of new Chinese-based competition in May, which could steal market shares from GE, or other power market players, in the future.
GE share has a good year, up 44% to date, better than 18% return
Dow Jones industrial average.
Investors are getting more comfortable with Larry Culp at the helm, and Wednesday's report is another chance for Culp to demonstrate that there is a new, steady hand at the company's helm.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
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