NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Electric on Friday posted an earnings gain in line with forecasts, as the company said it expects third-quarter results at or below the current consensus expectation.

The diversified conglomerate earned $4.9 billion, or 47 cents a share, from continuing operations, up from $4.4 billion, or 41 cents on that basis, a year earlier. That put it in line with the consensus of analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call.

Revenue of $39.9 billion from continuing operations was up 9 percent from a year earlier, but down from the $41.6 billion reported in the year-earlier period before it sold some units. Still, it beat First Call's forecast of $39.6 billion.

But the company that makes everything from light bulbs and appliances to jet engines and power turbines, as well as having finance and media units, said it expects third-quarter EPS of 48 to 50 cents a share.

While that's up from the 44 cents it earned in the year-ago quarter, analysts were already forecasting EPS of 50 cents.

Gains in earnings were broad-based across the company. Only NBC Universal, its television network and movie studio reported a decline in operating income as profits there fell 10 percent to $882 million, even as revenue there was flat.

The other five divisions - infrastructure, industrial, health care, consumer and commercial finance - all reported double-digit percentage gains in income, with the two finance units each topping 20 percent growth.

This marks the fourth straight quarter GE has hit analysts forecasts, but its stock has generally not been rewarded for the company achieving that goal.

Shares of GE (Charts) have trailed the blue chip Dow and S&P 500 indexes much of the year and are down 7 percent year-to-date. They have fallen on the day of its last two earnings reports, despite hitting the target.

Shares were down about 1 percent in Frankfurt trading early Friday, although that was little changed from the level before the report.

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