Brooke Sutherland, Columnist

GE Merits a Polite Clap for Clearing a Lowered Bar

It made some good progress in the first quarter, but obstacles still loom.

April 20, 2018 at 12:08 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.

1524226806_m666929 (1) — Photographer: Aaron M. Sprecher/Bloomberg

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General Electric Co. needs more than one good set of numbers.

The industrial giant reported adjusted earnings of 16 cents a share, beating already heavily lowered expectations that many thought it might still miss. Credit is still due for the better-than-expected results. If GE can avoid dropping bad news on its conference call -- where last quarter it disclosed an SEC investigation into its accounting practices and has in the past subtly walked down guidance -- its stock might just end up with a gain on earnings day for a change. The shares rose more than 5 percent in pre-market trading.