Shares of General Electric gained as much as 17 percent on Monday, benefitting exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with the largest holdings of GE after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.
Earnings per share of 17 cents was less than the 22 cents expected, but revenue came in at $33.28 billion versus the expected $32.6 billion Wall Street forecast.
Last year, GE shares dropped to their lowest level in close to a decade as it underwent deep regulatory accounting investigations while new CEO Larry Culp struggled to revive the once-heralded corporation.
“Our strategy is clear: de-leverage our balance sheet and strengthen our businesses, starting with Power,” said CEO Larry Culp in a statement. “We have more work to do, but I’m encouraged by the changes we’re making to strengthen GE and create value.”
ETFs with the largest holdings of GE were higher on the earnings report, such as Davis Select US Equity ETF (NasdaqGM: DUSA), Oppenheimer S&P Ultra Dividend Rev ETF (NYSEArca: RDIV) and SPDR Kensho Clean Power ETF (NYSEArca: XKCP). DUSA was 1.46 percent higher, while RDIV rose 0.85 percent and XKCP gained 1.33 percent.
In July 2018, GE was delisted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average after over 100 years as one of its original members. Culp, who took the helm as CEO on October 1, has more than his work cut out for him.
“My priorities in my first 100 days are positioning our businesses to win, starting with Power, and accelerating deleveraging,” said Culp in a press release.
