GE Warns of Weak 1Q, Pulls Financial Forecasts
09 April 2020 - 11:59PM
Dow Jones News
By Thomas Gryta
General Electric Co. warned its first-quarter earnings would be
below its prior forecasts and pulled its financial guidance for the
full year, citing the disruptions and uncertainty caused by the
coronavirus pandemic.
The industrial conglomerate is the latest major company, from
FedEx Corp. to Starbucks Corp., to withdraw its financial forecasts
as the rapidly spreading illness disrupts the global economy,
travel and daily life.
GE, which has announced job cuts and furloughs in recent weeks,
said Thursday it expects first-quarter earnings to be materially
below its prior estimate of 10 cents a share. It still expects cash
flow from its industrial operations to be about negative $2 billion
for the March quarter.
"Given the evolving nature of the pandemic, at this time, GE
cannot forecast with reasonable accuracy the full duration,
magnitude, and pace of recovery across our end markets, operations,
and supply chains," the company said in a statement Thursday.
--COVID-19
GE shares rose 12 cents to $7.42 in premarket trading. The
shares have fallen about 35% so far this year, compared with a
roughly 18% drop in the S&P 500 index.
Analysts are projecting earnings of 10 cents a share and
negative cash flow of $2.17 billion for the first quarter,
according to FactSet. Wall Street was projecting earnings of 45
cents a share for the year on cash flow of about $400 million.
Write to Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 09, 2020 09:44 ET (13:44 GMT)
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