General Electric (GE) earnings Q2 2020

General Electric reported on Wednesday a revenue figure for the second quarter that slightly beat analyst expectations, sending the stock higher. However, the industrial giant’s bottom line took a bigger-than-expected hit as the company weathers the coronavirus pandemic. 

Here’s how the company’s results compared to analyst expectations:

• Revenue:  $17.7 billion vs $17.12 billion forecast
• Loss per share: 15 cents per share vs a loss of 10 cents per share expected by Refinitiv

GE’s stronger-than-forecast revenues were mainly driven by sales in the company’s power and renewable energy divisions. Revenues from power came in at $4.16 billion and renewable energy raked in $3.51 billion, both topping FactSet estimates. Revenues from aviation disappointed, totaling $4.38 billion. 

The company also reported a loss of $2.1 billion in industrial free cash flow, which was better than the guidance issued by GE earlier this year.

“Our earnings performance was impacted by the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on our businesses, but Industrial free cash flow was better than our expectations and previously communicated range,” said CEO Larry Culp in a statement. “We made faster progress on elements within our control, including our targeted cost and cash preservation actions.”

GE shares gained about 2{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} in premarket trading Wednesday.

The company said it continued working toward cost reductions of more than $2 billion. GE added its “near-term liquidity needs” were reduced by $10.5 billion in the second quarter. 

GE shares have taken a big hit this year, dropping more than 38{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} in that time as the coronavirus pandemic shut down the economy and slowed air travel to a crawl. More than 4 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the U.S. alone, according to Johns Hopkins University. 

—CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report. 

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