General Electric shares gain the most in nine months on Wednesday, company reports quarterly loss, adjusted earnings beat, full-year cash forecast revised up

General Electric Co (GE) on Wednesday reported a quarterly loss of $1.3 billion. However, on an adjusted basis, the company reported a higher-than-anticipated profit during the third quarter and also revised up its free cash flow forecast for the full year.

General Electric shares closed higher for the eighth time in the past thirteen trading sessions in New York on Wednesday. It has also been the sharpest daily surge since January 31st. The stock went up 11.47% ($1.04) to $10.11, after touching an intraday high at $10.37, or a price level not seen since August 1st ($10.48).

Shares of General Electric Company have risen 33.55% so far in 2019 compared with a 21.54% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, General Electric’s stock went down 56.62%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

GE’s total revenue was little changed at $23.36 billion during the third quarter, down from $23.39 billion in the year-ago period.

The company said it had incurred a charge of $8.7 billion during the quarter related to the reduction of its stake in Baker Hughes Co to below 50%.

At the same time, another charge of $1 billion was taken in connection with GE’s long-term care insurance business to account for the effect of decreasing interest rates on its obligations.

GE reported a loss from continuing operations attributable to shareholders of $1.33 billion ($0.15 per share) during the quarter ended on September 30th, after posting a loss of $22.96 billion ($2.64 per share) in the year-ago period.

However, earnings per share, which exclude special items, were reported at $0.15 during the latest quarter, which outstripped a consensus of estimates of $0.11 per share.

The industrial conglomerate also said it now projected its industrial free cash flow for the full year to fall within the range of $0 to $2 billion, up from a previously expected range of negative $1 billion to positive $1 billion.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 15 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding General Electric’s stock price, have a median target of $11.00, with a high estimate of $14.00 and a low estimate of $5.00. The median estimate represents an 8.80% upside compared to the closing price of $10.11 on October 30th.

The same media also reported that at least 9 out of 20 surveyed investment analysts had rated General Electric’s stock as “Hold”, while 8 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 2 analysts had recommended selling the stock.