GE (NYSE:GE) shares took a hit today despite first-quarter results ahead of the consensus forecast.
GE shares were down more than 11% at $79.44 apiece by afternoon trading today. MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was down 2.3% as the overall U.S. stock market dropped on worries that Fed interest rate hikes will cause another recession.
The Boston-based company posted losses of $809 million, or 74¢ per share, on sales of just over $17 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2022, for a bottom-line slide deep into the red from profits of $20 million last year on sales that were virtually identical from the year prior.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 24¢, 5¢ ahead of Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $16.9 billion.
GE’s healthcare business — which is set to become a standalone company next year — grew by 1% year-over-year, bringing in nearly $4.4 billion in revenues for the quarter. Healthcare systems (9% order increase) and pharmaceutical diagnostics (4%) drove the business, while the company said in a news release that growth was impacted by continued supply chain constraints, COVID-19 impacts in certain China regions and lower volume in Russia and Ukraine.
“This quarter, the GE team improved services, orders, and cash while scaling lean in all businesses to drive margin expansion. Our continuous operational improvements set us up to reinvest in innovation across GE, and our businesses remain focused on growth, supported by continued recovery at aviation and strong demand at Healthcare,” GE Chair and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Jr. said in the release. “We’re holding the outlook range we shared in January, but as we continue to work through inflation and other evolving pressures, we’re currently trending toward the low end of the range.
“Importantly, we remain on track to launch three independent, investment-grade companies with leading positions in growing, critical sectors, well-positioned to create long-term value.”
GE’s previously announced guidance range set adjusted EPS for full-year 2022 between $2.80 and $3.50. The company expects organic revenues to grow in the high-single-digit range.
