General Electric Fourth Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component General Electric (NYSE:GE) will unveil its latest earnings tomorrow, Friday, January 18, 2013. General Electric is an advanced technology, services and finance company that provides services ranging from aircraft engines to business and consumer financing.

General Electric Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is for net income of 43 cents per share, a rise of 10.3% from the company’s actual earnings for the year-ago quarter. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from 47 cents. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has been unchanged at 43 cents during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 17.1% versus last year to $1.51.

Past Earnings Performance: The company met estimates last quarter after beating the forecasts in the prior two. In the third quarter, the company reported profit of 36 cents per share versus a mean estimate of net income of 36 cents per share. In the second quarter, the company beat estimates by one cent.

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A Look Back: In the third quarter, profit rose 8.3% to $3.49 billion (33 cents a share) from $3.22 billion (22 cents a share) the year earlier, meeting analyst expectations. Revenue rose 2.8% to $36.35 billion from $35.37 billion.

Here’s how General Electric traded following its last earnings report 3 months ago and leading up to its upcoming earnings report this week: