GE had 'optimistic tone,' but offered little to change view, says Tusa. General Electric's guidance today had an "optimistic tone," JPMorgan analyst Stephen Tusa tells investors in a research note. However, the analyst sees little reason to change his estimates or view on the company, "with more reclassifications than what we would have expected from a new regime." It is disappointing to see that there is no change in structure of GE's guidance, with "officially the widest gap we have now ever seen between consensus earnings and free cash flow," Tusa writes. He believes this will likely sustain itself into 2020, for which earnings will likely be down due to divestitures. It now seems highly likely that consensus estimates will remain too high on forward numbers, "something Bulls can run with today, but something management would need to contend with over the course of 2019," concludes Tusa. He keeps a Neutral rating on the shares with a $6 price target. General Electric in morning trading is up 4%, or 41c, to $10.44.
