Everyone’s Fed Up With GE’s Confusing Accounting
- Industrial giant issues four earnings per share numbers
- Critics say adjusted profit obscures actual performance
A monitor displays General Electric Corp. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Monday, May 22, 2017. U.S. stocks advanced for a third day as President Donald Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia netted deals that lifted industrial shares and crude pushed above $50 a barrel before OPEC meets this week.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/BloombergLast quarter, General Electric Co. reported earnings of 28 cents a share. Also 13 cents a share, 19 cents a share and 15 cents a share -- all at the same time.
The numbers represent profit that includes or excludes certain items, such as pension costs and discontinued operations. While most big U.S. companies release adjusted earnings that deviate from generally accepted accounting principles, GE stands out for the sheer head-scratching complexity of its quarterly reports. It’s one of only 21 S&P 500 companies that release more than one adjusted EPS figure.