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GE reaffirms guidance
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February 5, 2002: 9:15 a.m. ET
Sees 1Q growth, full-year results in line with Wall Street expectations.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - General Electric Co. reaffirmed the company's earlier guidance on first-quarter and full-year earnings targets Tuesday, saying it is on track for another record financial performance this year.
The world's largest company in terms of market value said it should post 2002 earnings per share of $1.65 to $1.67, up from $1.41 a year earlier. That range would encompass earnings tracker First Call's consensus forecast of $1.66 a share.
Shares of GE (GE: up $0.46 to $35.46, Research, Estimates), one of 30 components of the Dow Jones industrial average, gained in early trading Tuesday following the reaffirmation.
Company spokesman David Frail said that GE also anticipates being in line with First Call's consensus earnings per share estimate of 35 cents for the first quarter. The company earned 30 cents a share a year earlier.
"The first quarter is only five weeks old, but we can see that it's turning out exactly as we expected," GE CEO Jeff Immelt said. He said the company sees revenue in the quarter growing 3 to 5 percent, with double-digit percentage growth in industrial products sales. That indicates revenue of $31.4 billion to $32 billion.
First Call does not have a consensus revenue forecast for the period. The single analyst it surveyed for a revenue forecast estimated $33.9 billion for the period.
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GE operations include one of the world's largest financial services firms, GE Capital, and broadcaster NBC. It also is a leading maker of industrial products and consumer appliances. 
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