Analyst Says General Electric Should Be Up Slightly On Q2 Print; It Isn't

General Electric Company GE reported EPS and sales beats for the second quarter on Friday morning and reiterated fiscal 2017 guidance for of $1.60–1.70 EPS.

Credit Suisse analyst Julian Mitchell soon followed the earnings report with a note. Mitchell maintains his Outperform rating and $33 price target on GE shares (see his track record here).

Other highlights from the report Mitchell noted included lower corporate costs, which drove industrial operating profits to be in-line with estimates, and aviation margins, which came in ahead of estimates.

“Overall, we think the stock should be up slightly,” said Mitchell.

Investors Disagree

Despite the solid Q2 numbers and “low investor expectations,” according to Mitchell, GE shares dropped about 5 percent on the open.

The drop was likely a result of CFO Jeffrey Bornstein’s comment that fiscal 2017 EPS is trending toward the low end of guidance, which overshadowed management’s insistence that the company is on track to hit its cost reduction targets.

The bottomed at $25.26, a new 52-week low, before beginning to gradually pull up.

At time of publication, shares of GE were down 3.2 percent on the day at $25.83.

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