Is Industrial Digitization A Threat Or Opportunity For GE?

General Electric Company GE may have made the shift to digitization just in time to ride the huge industrial Internet of Things (IOT) wave in coming years. According to Bernstein analyst Steven Winoker, GE’s cloud-based data analytics ecosystem could be a huge growth driver in coming years.

"The Predix platform will be key- an open-source software stack designed to become an operating system for industrial assets regardless of vertical (or equipment manufacturer)…the rough equivalent of an ERP/MES for equipment,” Winoker explained.

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He sees Predix as GE’s ticket to the digital industrial revolution, but it will likely face stiff competition from both traditional industrial players, such as Rockwell Automation ROK and technology companies like Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO and International Business Machines Corp. IBM.

GE currently reports about $6 billion in digital revenue, but has a lofty goal of $14 billion in digital revenue by 2020. While that growth is certainly ambitious, it is based on the early growth of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN’s AWS and salesforce.com, inc. CRM’s services.

Winoker concluded that, while there is a long list of risks involved in the digital transition, industrial digitization should be viewed as more of an opportunity than a threat to GE in the long term.

Bernstein maintains a Market-Perform rating on GE and a $34 price target for the stock.

Disclosure: The author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.