- General Electric (GE -1.8%) tumbles as much as 3.7% to a new 52-week low after revealing plans to restate earnings for 2016 and 2017 to reflect a new accounting standard, disclosing an investigation into subprime mortgage loans made before the financial crisis, and making changes to its board.
- J.P. Morgan analyst Stephen Tusa maintains his Underweight rating on GE and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn)'s John Inch keeps his Sell rating and $13 price target, saying the company is vulnerable to contingent liability risks.
- Vertical Research's Jeff Sprague reiterates a Hold rating, saying GE faces a "litany of liabilities," and estimating GE Industrial's leverage is at 3.2x his 2018 EBITDA estimate and that GE Capital may not be able to fully fund its legacy liabilities without support from GE.
- CEO John Flannery sends a letter to shareholder acknowledging "a very tough year" in 2017 while defending the company, saying “How [GE] is being portrayed in certain quarters is overwrought and, in most cases, does not reflect the reality of GE that our customers and employees are seeing around the world. There are things we need to fix. But we can. We know how to. And we will.”
- Now read: GE To Restate 2 Years Of Earnings
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