Earnings Previews: General Electric, GE Healthcare, General Motors, Raytheon, UPS

In late-morning trading on Friday, the Dow Jones industrials were down 0.1%, the S&P 500 down 0.09% and the Nasdaq 0.07% lower.

After U.S. markets closed Thursday afternoon, railroad operator CSX reported quarterly results that beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Shares traded up 3.4% Friday morning.

Before markets opened on Friday, Procter & Gamble beat the consensus earnings per share (EPS) and revenue estimates. The consumer goods giant also affirmed previous fiscal 2023 EPS guidance and raised revenue guidance. Shares traded up by 3.7%.

Regions Financial missed both Wall Street revenue and profit estimates, but considering the bank’s near-death experience, that is not so bad. The stock traded down about 3.2% Friday morning.

Schlumberger also beat both top-line and bottom-line estimates, but not by enough to impress investors. Shares traded down 4.9% Friday morning.

Freeport-McMoRan beat consensus estimates for both EPS and revenue, but the bar was set too low to give shares a lift. Lower copper prices and a 50% drop in production contributed to the mediocre results. Shares traded down by about 4.6% Friday morning.

Cleveland-Cliffs, Coca-Cola, First Republic Bank and Range Resources are on deck to report quarterly results on Monday. The following morning, look for reports from McDonald’s, PepsiCo, 3M and Verizon.

Here are previews of four more companies reporting results early Tuesday.

General Electric

Over the past 12 months, shares of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) have added more than 9%. On Thursday, the stock broke through the $100 per share barrier for the first time in five years. The stock price has nearly doubled in the past six months and has risen more than 50% so far in 2023. The successful spin-off of its health care business will be followed early next year by the spin-off of its energy business, leaving the booming aerospace division as the new GE.

Analysts remain bullish on the stock. There are 16 Buy or Strong Buy ratings, along with four Hold ratings, among the 20 brokerages covering the stock. At a recent price of around $100.00 a share, the potential upside to a median price target of $104.00 is 4%. At the high target of $120.00, the upside potential is 20%.

First-quarter revenue is forecast at $13.46 billion, which would be down 38.2% sequentially and 21.0% lower year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $0.14, down 89% sequentially and by 41.7% year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year, analysts expect GE to report EPS of $1.98, down 24.3%, on sales of $62.81 billion, down 18%. First-quarter numbers for the prior quarter and the prior year include health care operations that were spun off in January.