General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) shares soared Friday after the conglomerate reported first-quarter earnings that outpaced Wall Street expectations and reaffirmed its financial outlook for the year.
General Electric shares jumped 5% to US$14.70 in pre-market trade.
The Boston-based industrial conglomerate posted first-quarter March 2018 earnings of US$0.16 per share on revenue of US$28.7bln. The Earnings Whisper number was US$0.11 per share.
First-quarter total revenue rose 7% to $28.66bln from US$26.88bln a year ago.
"The first quarter is a step forward in executing on our 2018 plan and we are seeing signs of progress in our performance," said GE CEO John Flannery, in the company's earnings release.
"Industrial earnings, free cash flow, and margins all improved year over year. We reduced Industrial structural costs by $805 million and are on track to exceed our cost reduction goal of $2 billion in 2018."
GE's earnings were fueled by strong performances in the company's aviation, healthcare, renewables, transportation and corporate units, partly offset by power, oil and gas and GE Capital units.