General Electric Says 2019 Will Be A 'Reset' Year

General Electric Company GE management guided 2019 below the Street's estimates.

What Happened

GE said 2019 will be a "reset" year and the company expects to earn 50 to 60 cents per share for the full year versus the Street's expectations of 70 cents per share. Management also guided its industry free cash flow to be flat to down $2 billion, which also disappointed compared to 2018's positive $4.5 billion.

GE's guidance also includes:

• Industrial segment organic revenue to be up by a low-single-digit to mid-single-digit range.
• Industrial margin to be up flat to up 100 basis points.

"We will continue to take thoughtful actions to reduce downside risk and increase upside optionality to create long-term value for our shareholders," GE CEO Larry Culp, Jr. said in a press release.

Why It's Important

Culp was appointed CEO of GE in October and Thursday's announcement marks the company's first guidance outlook under his leadership, CNBC noted. The guidance shouldn't come as a complete surprise as Culp cautioned investors in early March the industrial free cash flow will be negative.

GE said it expects the industrial free cash flow metric to be positive in 2020 and the pace of improvement is expected to accelerate in 2021. The company remains committed to maintaining an Industrial leverage ratio of less than 2.5 times net debt to EBITDA and a GE Capital debt-to-equity ratio of less than four times.

At time of publication, GE's stock traded about 1.2 percent higher to $10.14 per share.

Related Links:

Gordon Haskett: General Electric Bull Thesis 'Dubious And Lacking Basic Intuition'

General Electric's Power Business Is Flickering, Company 'Long Way' From Seeing Turnaround

Photo credit: Empoor, Wikimedia Commons