GE's Stock Turns Sharply Lower After CEO Immelt Gives Downbeat Outlook On Conference Call

Shares of General Electric Co. turned sharply lower in premarket trade Friday, as Chief Executive Jeff Immelt hosted his last post-results conference call, before handing the reins to incoming CEO John Flannery, and gave a downbeat outlook. The stock tumbled 4.2%, putting it on track to open at the lowest level since October 2015. The stock initially rose as much as 1.8% after results were reported before selling off to be down 0.9% just prior to the start of the conference call. Immelt said the recovery for the oil and gas market has been slower and more volatile than planned, and with customers delaying purchasing, he expects numbers for GE's legacy business to be "lower than previously anticipated," according to a transcript of the call provided by FactSet. "Given our outlook on oil and gas, we are trending to the bottom end of the range of $1.60 to $1.70 EPS for the year," Immelt said. The stock had tumbled 15.5% year to date through Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 9.4%.