General Electric shares fall the most in two months on Thursday, GE Power head discloses issue with newest line of turbines

Shares of General Electric Company (GE) retreated the most in two months on Thursday, after the head of the companys power unit disclosed an issue with its latest line of natural gas-fired power turbines.

Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan slashed its price target on the stock.

General Electric shares closed lower for the fourth time in the past nine trading sessions in New York on Thursday. It has also been the steepest daily loss since July 20th. The stock went down 3.11% ($0.40) to $12.46, after touching an intraday low at $12.36, or a price level not seen since September 12th ($12.22).

Shares of General Electric Company have retreated 28.60% so far in 2018 compared with a 9.62% gain for the underlying index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2017, General Electric’s stock plummeted 44.78%, thus, it again underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 19.42% return.

In a letter posted on LinkedIn, Russell Stokes, GE Powers Chief Executive Officer, said that an “oxidation issue” had been discovered, which could affect the lifespan of blades in the companys HA-Class turbines. Without providing more details about the issue, Stokes added that a fix had already been implemented so that the turbines could again operate within targeted parameters.

“Our channel checks, confirmed now by GE Power CEO, GE investor relations and the customer suggest GE has experienced a failure in a 1st stage blade,” J.P. Morgan analyst Stephen Tusa wrote in a research note on Thursday, cited by Reuters.

Tusa revised down his price target on GEs stock from $11 to $10.

According to CNN Money, the 14 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding General Electric’s stock price, have a median target of $15.00, with a high estimate of $27.00 and a low estimate of $11.00. The median estimate represents a 20.39% upside compared to the closing price of $12.46 on September 20th.

The same media also reported that 13 out of 19 surveyed investment analysts had rated General Electric’s stock as “Hold”, while 5 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the General Electric stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $12.49
R2 – $12.52
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $12.55
R4 (Long Breakout) – $12.64
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $12.75
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $12.79

S1 – $12.43
S2 – $12.40
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $12.37
S4 (Short Breakout) – $12.28
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $12.17
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $12.13

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for General Electric Company (GE) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $12.55
R1 – $12.88
R2 – $13.08
R3 – $13.41
R4 – $13.74

S1 – $12.35
S2 – $12.02
S3 – $11.82
S4 – $11.62