UPDATE: GE Shares Gain After Upbeat Q3 Earnings

Shares of General Electric Co

gained more than 2% in pre-market trading after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings. The Fairfield, Connecticut-based company posted quarterly earnings of $3.54 billion, or $0.35 per share, compared to $3.19 billion, or $0.31 per share, in the year-ago period. Its operating earnings climbed to $0.38 per share. Its revenue surged to $36.17 billion versus $35.66 billion. However, analysts were expecting operating earnings of $0.37 per share on revenue of $36.79 billion. GE's industrial segment profit rose 9% to $4.3 billion in the quarter. Orders climbed 22% in the quarter. Growth market orders surged 34%, while US orders gained 25% in the quarter. At the end of the quarter, GE's backlog of equipment and services was $250 billion, up $21 billion versus the year-earlier period. Cash generated from GE operating activities year-to-date totaled $7.2 billion, while cash generated from Industrial operating activities year-to-date totaled $5.0 billion. GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said, “The environment is volatile, but infrastructure growth opportunities exist, and GE is executing well. This is reflected in healthy order growth and margin expansion. During the quarter we continued to execute on our portfolio strategy, including the successful IPO of Synchrony Financial and announcing the sale of our Appliances business.” GE shares rose 2.06% to $24.75 in pre-market trading.