MidnightTrader's Earnings Preview: General Electric

General Electric (GE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is due with its Q1 results in the pre-market on Friday, April 11, and analysts polled by Thomson First Call expect the company to report a profit of $0.51 per share on revenue of $43.68 billion.

GE is recently favoring a narrowing trend between the sessions, cutting back its pre-market earnings-driven percentage performance in the following regular session in three of the last four quarters. Longer term, it has narrowed seven times, widened five times and stayed flat once in the past three years.

Jan. 18, 2008,
GE advanced 2.3% in pre-market trade after meeting Q4 expectations and maintaining its 2008 guidance largely in line with the Street view. The stock added to its upside in the following regular session, gaining 3.3% by the closing bell.

Oct. 12, 2007,
GE lost 1.5% in pre-market trade after the company met Q3 earnings expectations, beat on sales and guided for its Q4 and full year earnings in line with the Street view. The stock saw its declines reverse slightly during the regular session, closing out that day's trade down 1.3%.

July 13, 2007,
GE advanced 1.6% in pre-market trade after the company beat by a penny on earnings and set forward guidance in line with expectations. It narrowed its upside in that day's regular session, rising 1.2%.

April 13, 2007,
GE gained 1.1% in pre-market activity after reporting quarterly results that matched estimates and setting its outlook in a range that straddled the Street view. The stock saw its upside cut back between the regular session bells as GE ended the day with a 0.5% gain.

January 19, 2007,
GE fell 2% in the pre-market session despite meeting Q4 EPS estimates and topping on sales. It also guided in line with expectations. Shares dipped a bit further in the regular session, ending down 2.7%.

Oct. 13, 2006,
GE slipped 0.9% in pre-market action after the company posted in-line earnings, beat on revenue and issued guidance that straddled Street expectations. The downside was trimmed to a 0.6% decline between the bells.

July 14, 2006,
GE declined 1.1% in pre-market trade after the company matched the Street view for its Q2 and maintained its guidance in a range that straddled the then-current expectations. The stock added modestly to its downside in the regular session, closing down 1.7%.

April 13, 2006,
GE shed 0.8% in pre-market trade after the company beat on Q1 revenue, matched on EPS, and guided in-line with expectations for its Q2 and full year. Sellers added to the pressure in that day's regular session, sending GE down 1.6% by the closing bell.

Jan. 20, 2006,
GE declined 1.1% in pre-market trade after the company met earnings expectations, came in shy on revenue and guided its forward EPS in line to higher than estimates. The downside firmed deeper in the red in the Jan. 20 regular session, with GE ending the day down 3.7%.

Oct. 14, 2005,
GE advanced 0.9% in pre-market trade after beating on revenue, posting in-line EPS, guiding to mostly match expectations, and raising its buyback program. It stayed tight to that upside move in the regular session and ended the day up the same 0.9%.

July 15, 2005,
GE slimmed down 0.9% in pre-market trade after matching Q2 estimates and raising its full year EPS to the high end of its previous outlook. The stock cut back its modest downside between the bells, losing a mere 0.2% by the July 15 regular session close.

April 15, 2005,
GE edged up 0.9% in pre-market trade after topping Street expectations. The stock narrowed its upside slightly between the bells, eking out a 0.7% rise by the April 15 regular session close.

Jan. 21, 2005,
GE advanced 0.9% in pre-market trade after the company reported results ahead of Street estimates. Buyers cleared out of the issue in regular session play, allowing the stock to end bell-to-bell action down 0.6%.

Brooks McFeely is widely regarded as the leading expert on extended-hours trading. He is a Managing Partner for Brochet Capital Partners, LP and the founder of Midnight Trader, Inc. (www.midnighttrader.com), the leading provider of pre-market and after-hours trading analysis and news to retail and institutional investors.

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