NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
General Electric Co. credited an improving economy for second-quarter earnings that topped its earlier guidance and Wall Street expectations Friday, but its profit was essentially unchanged from a year earlier.
The diversified manufacturing, finance and media company earned $3.9 billion, or 38 cents a share, compared with $3.8 billion, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call forecast EPS of 37 cents.
The company has a history of hitting the consensus forecast exactly.
GE saw better than 10 percent earnings gain at nine of 11 business units, and it edged its full-year earnings guidance higher, saying it expected EPS between $1.55 to $1.60, rather than the earlier $1.54 to $1.60 target. The new range is identical to the range of analysts estimates for the year.
Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said the company remains confident it can see another 10 to 15 percent EPS growth in 2005.
"This is the best economy we've seen in years," he said in a statement.
Revenue in the quarter rose 11 percent to $37 billion from $33.4 billion a year earlier.
The company makes everything from light bulbs and consumer appliances to jet engines and high-tech medical equipment. Financial services and media are two of its largest sources of revenue.
GE saw revenue decline in only two of the 11 business units -- energy, where shipments of heavy-duty gas turbines fell from year-earlier levels, and insurance. But most of the other business units posted 15 percent or better growth.
The largest percentage gain in revenue, 47 percent, came at its media unit, NBC Universal, which acquired Universal Studios and many other entertainment assets of Vivendi Universal during the quarter.
Shares of GE (GE: Research, Estimates), a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, rose 50 cents to $32.20 in Inet trading early Friday.
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