What happened
While General Electric (GE -2.11%) reported some good news from its first-quarter earnings today, investors heard something different. Fears of what lies ahead for the industrial giant caused GE shares to plummet this morning. As of 10:36 a.m. ET, the stock is down 10%.
So what
One important area that investors were watching was GE's aviation division. Revenue there rose 12% year over year to $5.6 billion in the first quarter. Aviation orders jumped 31%, as commercial airlines are experiencing strong customer demand and looking at a return to profitability in the current quarter. But GE management also highlighted headwinds that it says will continue.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
After GE recently streamlined its divisions, the aviation segment led the way in the first quarter. Revenue from its healthcare segment increased 1% year over year, but revenue from power and renewable energy both dropped.
But it was likely concern regarding the continued headwinds for the overall business that had investors selling the stock today. In the conference call for investors, management said it still expects adjusted free cash flow to be negative in the second quarter. CEO Larry Culp said the combination of supply chain issues, the war in Ukraine, and impacts from the latest COVID-19 outbreak in China are hurting the business. Culp summed up his comments by saying, "We're operating in a challenging market environment."
Investors may have known that in general, but with airlines and other industries looking to be in the midst of a strong recovery, GE's warnings of continued headwinds wasn't what shareholders wanted to hear.
