What do you think about the stock? Is it a good buy right now? General Electric: What's Happening? https://seekingalpha.com/article/4076415-general-electric-happening
GE reported earnings on Fri, Apr 21, 2017. Since then, the stock price is down by -8% and hit a 52 week low. I would wait to see the stock price start to consolidate before getting in.
GE oilfield company is ready to prosper General Electric Co.’s new oilfield services behemoth is poised to capitalize on a recovery from the worst crude crash in a generation -- except no one is sure when that will actually happen. The merger of GE’s oil and gas business with Baker Hughes Inc. officially closed Monday, creating a provider of services and equipment that’s second in size only to Schlumberger Ltd. (Industry Week)
GE nears deal to merge transportation unit with Wabtec - sources Stock Markets 43 minutes ago (May 20, 2018 03:28PM ET) By Harry Brumpton and Greg Roumeliotis (Reuters) - General Electric Co (N:GE) is nearing a deal to merge its transportation business, which manufactures train engines, with Wabtec Corp (N:WAB), a U.S. maker of equipment for the rail industry, two people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. A deal valuing the combined business at more than $20 billion could be announced as early as this week, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. It would be the biggest deal thus far to be inked by GE Chief Executive Officer John Flannery, who took over last August with a mandate to slash costs and boost the U.S. industrial conglomerate’s plummeting stock price. There is always a possibility that the deal talks, which center on using a tax-efficient structure called a Reverse Morris Trust, could collapse at the last minute, the sources cautioned. GE and Wabtec did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Flannery told GE’s annual shareholder meeting last month that the company is "keenly aware of the pain" caused by its poor performance and dividend cut last year. Executives are trying to turn around the ailing power and oil and gas businesses, he told shareholders, adding that there is evidence of "green shoots" of improvement. GE has taken several actions to prune its portfolio over the years, shedding plastics, NBCUniversal and most of its GE Capital business. It also combined its oilfield services business with Baker Hughes (N:BHGE). GE's transportation business, which generated revenue of $4.7 billion, manufactures freight and passenger trains, marine diesel engines and mining equipment, among other products. Wabtec, which has a market capitalization of $9.2 billion, manufactures equipment for locomotives, freight cars, and passenger transit vehicles. Following a board of director shake-up, Flannery has pledged to cut $2 billion in cost for 2018 and to slash the company's once-coveted dividend in half. GE’s stock has lost about half its value in the last year, and the company has been working with activist hedge fund Trian Fund Management LP, which sits on its board of directors, to turn the business around. A Reverse Morris Trust transaction allows a company to avoid a big tax bill by spinning off a unit that it wants to divest and simultaneously merging it with another company.
This should be a little good news for GE. (and UTX) Maybe Boeing and Airbus will order more engines from them going forward. Brit junk. FILE PHOTO: A view of one of two Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner during a media tour of the aircraft ahead of the Singapore Airshow in Singapore LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Rolls-Royce (RR.L) said a costly compressor problem that had grounded Boeing planes had now been found in a different type of engine, compounding pressures on a group that is due to cut more than 4,000 jobs this week. Britain's best known engineering company has been hit by a problem with a compressor in the Trent 1000 package C engine that is not lasting as long as expected, grounding planes, forcing inspections and angering airline clients. The engine powers Boeing's 787 Dreamliner jet. On Monday it said it had now found the same issue on a "small number of high life Package B engines", requiring a one-off inspection of the B fleet and sending its shares down 1 percent. The news, which will not affect Rolls' full-year free cash flow target, comes as the group embarks on the latest stage of a major restructuring program under Chief Executive Warren East that is designed to boost profitability. On Friday the group will host a capital markets day where, according to a person familiar with the situation, it will announce more than 4,000 job cuts, mostly in Britain and affecting support and management roles. The group, which employs 50,000 people in 50 countries, is also expected to set out how it will make a return on the investment made in recent years and the expected drivers of cash flow beyond its medium-term horizon. The news about the compressor issue will not help however as Rolls has been fighting to show it has a lid on a problem which has forced airline customers to lease alternative planes to fly in the busy summer holiday period. The existing package C issue had led to about 30 of the affected aircraft being grounded at any one time for checks. They were flown by airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand (AIR.NZ). Air New Zealand said earlier this month it would lease two Boeing 777s to cover for 787-9s that are affected by the Rolls engine issue. Airlines that use the package C engine tend to also take the package B engine. According to Rolls some 380 package C engines are in service while there are 166 package B engines in service. Rolls said that while this new problem would incur some additional cost, it did not expect it to affect its free cash flow guidance for 2018. Analysts welcomed the fact the group did not revise the target and noted the comment that the package B issue only affected a "small number" of engines.