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what it is
GE Aerospace makes and services jet engines for airlines and militaries, then gets paid for decades after each engine ships.
how it gets paid
Last year General Electric made $46B in revenue. Commercial Engines & Services was the largest piece at ~$20B, or about 43% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 18% last year. More impressively, orders skyrocketed to $27.0 billion, depicting a very favorable backdrop in the commercial aerospace and defense markets.
what just happened
GE's latest quarter beat expectations, with EPS at $1.57 versus a $1.42 estimate.
At a glance
A balance sheet — strong enough to weather a downturn
35/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
49.4x trailing p/e — you're paying up for this one
0.6% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
29.0% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
xvary composite: 66/100 — average
What they do
GE Aerospace makes and services jet engines for airlines and militaries, then gets paid for decades after each engine ships.
GE has about 45,000 commercial and 25,000 military engines already flying. That installed base is recurring revenue in plain English: once your engine is in the air, you keep buying parts and maintenance for years. GE turns that into a 19.4% operating margin, which means each $100 of sales leaves about $19 after running the business.
How they make money
$46B
annual revenue · their business grew +18% last year
Commercial Engines & Services
$20B
+24.0%
Defense & Propulsion
$14B
+18.0%
Aftermarket Services
$7B
+11.0%
Other
$5B
+11.0%
The products that matter
single-aisle jet engine platform
LEAP Engine
70%+ of new single-aisle aircraft orders
it powers over 70% of new single-aisle aircraft orders, which matters because every engine sold creates years of parts and maintenance revenue after delivery.
installed base flywheel
widebody engine platform
GE9X Engine
$29B backlog
this program carries a $29B backlog tied to Boeing's 777X. that's meaningful, but it also means execution depends on an aircraft program outside GE's direct control.
program risk
maintenance, parts, and overhaul
Aftermarket Services
+11% vs. prior year (segment row)
the revenue bridge shows Aftermarket Services at +11% vs. prior year — not +24% (that was the Commercial Engines line). service revenue is still the quality flywheel investors pay up for.
the margin story
Key numbers
49.4x
trailing p/e
You are paying almost 50 years of trailing earnings for an industrial stock, while the 18-month target sits at $276 versus today's $315.41.
29.0%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit earned on money invested → so what: GE turns each $100 invested in the business into about $29 of operating return.
19.4%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after core costs → so what: the engine-and-service mix is throwing off nearly $19 on every $100 sold.
$70B
2029 revenue
The ~$70B 2029 sales estimate versus ~$46B today implies a large expansion if it happens — the old 1.0% growth blurb beside it did not reconcile to those two dollar levels and was dropped.
Financial health
A
strength
- balance sheet grade A — very strong financial position
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 35 / 100
- long-term debt $19.6B (6% of capital)
- net profit margin 18.7% — keeps 19 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 41% — $0.41 profit for every $1 investors have put in
A with balance sheet grade and net profit margin standing out. your money faces less risk here than at most public companies.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in GE 3 years ago → it's now worth $48,570.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
GE's latest quarter beat expectations, with EPS at $1.57 versus a $1.42 estimate.
Fourth-quarter revenue and earnings came in ahead of expectations. For full-year 2025, revenue grew 18% and EPS rose more than 40%, which is why the stock got expensive in the first place.
$46B
revenue (FY)
$1.57
eps (Q)
19.4%
op. margin (FY)
the number that mattered
The key number was the 10.56% EPS beat, because it keeps the premium valuation alive for one more quarter.
-
ge aerospace closed out 2025 on a high note.
-
revenues and earnings topped our expectations in the fourth quarter.
-
tallying up for the full year, the top line grew 18% and share earnings were more than 40% higher.more impressively, orders skyrocketed to $27.0 billion, depicting a very favorable backdrop in the commercial aerospace and defense markets. add to this, management laid out the financial framework for 2026 that displayed a positive outlook.
-
still, some investors that had been riding the shares higher for a few years took profits.
-
the slower rate of growth targeted for 2026 sent shareholders to the exits.margin pressure was one concern cited, as was the normalization of spare-engine demand, which has boomed coming out of the covid era.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the top risk here is backlog conversion slowing while the stock still trades at 49.4x earnings.
high
growth deceleration
2026 guidance stepped down to low double-digit growth after a year that grew 18.5%. that matters because the stock is priced for continued acceleration, not a cooldown.
a slower growth path pressures the multiple first and the narrative second.
med
engine delivery and supply-chain execution
GE has a $190B backlog, but that only helps if engines and parts move through production on time. delays do not erase demand — they delay revenue, cash, and confidence.
this risk sits directly on top of more than four years of revenue visibility.
med
spare-engine demand normalization
management commentary already flagged concern around spare-engine demand cooling from the post-covid surge. if that eases faster than expected, the services growth investors are leaning on can moderate.
that would hit the highest-quality part of the story, not the weakest.
low
program concentration and end-market exposure
GE9X carries a $29B backlog tied to Boeing's 777X, and defense is $9.1B of the revenue shown here. when major aircraft programs or military budgets move, GE feels it.
not a thesis-breaker by itself, but it reduces how diversified the growth story really is.
the company looks sturdy. the stock looks less forgiving. any stumble in converting the $190B backlog or sustaining service growth would matter immediately.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
commercial services growth
24% growth is doing a lot of narrative work. if that slips materially, the stock loses its cleanest support.
risk
backlog conversion
the backlog is $190B. watch whether management talks about output constraints, delivery bottlenecks, or slower shop visits.
calendar
next earnings checkpoint
the next quarterly print matters because investors will look for proof that low double-digit 2026 growth is tracking from day one.
trend
spare-engine demand
post-covid demand was unusually strong. if that normalizes faster, the market may stop treating current services momentum as the new baseline.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
35 / 100
35 / 100 means estimates have less reliability than you would want for a 49.4x stock. in human-speak, analysts do not have a perfectly clean read on the earnings path.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 1,488 buyers vs. 974 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.8B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$166
$386
$315
current price
$276
target midpoint · 12% from current · 3-5yr high: $385 (+20% · 6% ann'l return)
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