General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) is scheduled to report second quarter earnings this Friday. Ten analysts that Zacks surveys expect GE to make 53 cents a share, the same as it did in 2007. Given that 0% growth rate, GE's forward Price/Earnings ratio of 12.1 seems a bit on the high side.But after the spanking that CEO Jeff Immelt took after missing in the first quarter by 13.7%, he could be guiding analysts lower only to surprise them on the upside. This makes me wonder whether analysts have a higher, whisper number in mind. GE stock is down 32% since Immelt took over on September 7, 2001, but with the exception of the first quarter, over the last five years GE has increased earnings at an 8.1% annual rate.
If it got back on that track in the second quarter, then investors would expect GE to earn 57 cents a share, instead of the official 53 cents. In that case, GE stock would fall unless it exceeded 57 cents a share....MORE
And from 24/7 Wall Street:
Siemens (SI) today said it will cut nearly 17,000 jobs. It gave the economic downturn as the major reason for the move. Since Siemens and GE (GE) are in a number of related businesses including infrastructure, transportation, power generation, and medical solutions, it would make sense that the US company faces some of the same financial challenges....MORE
