Brooke Sutherland, Columnist

Jeff Immelt Buys Time But Not Much

A first-quarter earnings beat wasn't enough to dispel doubts about his ability to meet cash-flow and profit targets.

April 21, 2017 at 2:27 PM UTC

Brooke Sutherland is Bloomberg News' Boston bureau chief and writes the Industrial Strength Newsletter. She was previously a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and industrial companies and an M&A reporter for Bloomberg News.

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General Electric Co. gave investors just enough good news on Friday to buy CEO Jeff Immelt some time, but not enough to quiet the doubters.

The $261 billion industrial giant, having fallen well short of its lofty growth goals last year, had a nice surprise for investors when it reported first quarter results on Friday: 7 percent revenue gains absent the impact of currency swings and acquisitions. That's about double what GE investor Chip Pettengill of Bahl & Gaynor had said he was hoping for ahead of the results and is all the more impressive in a quarter that traditionally hasn't been GE's strongest. Earnings per share also beat estimates -- by the widest margin since 2010.