Can Business Match This Years Strong Stock Performance?
Shares of General Electric (NYSE: GE) are trading higher ahead of the companies first quarter earnings release, expected out before the market opens on Friday, April 16, 2010. The stock is up 0.6% to $19.46 in mid-afternoon trading today. General Electric has seen some price movement through the quarter; shares rose 19.6%. Much of the increase came in the last month, as the stock surged from $15.90 to $18.20, a possible signal of confidence by investors. Shares are currently up 28.4% YTD. By comparison, the S&P 500 is up 8.4% since the beginning of 2010. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.16 for the quarter, on revs of $37.10 billion. Last quarter, the company reported better-than-expected EPS of $0.28 on sales of $41.4 billion. EPS from the same quarter last year came in at $0.26 and revs came in at $38.41 billion. Data from Bloomberg shows that 8 of analysts have a Buy rating, 9 have a Hold, and none recommend selling the stock. The analyst consensus price target is $19.85,
