General Electric: The Hits Just Keep On Coming

Summary Points:

- General Electric stock performance was terrible in 2017, and 2018 has not been much better.

- The company reported disappointing Q4 2017 results, but there were some positive takeaways from the earnings release/management commentary.

- There are significant risks that need to be considered, but I plan to stay long the stock.

The hits just keep on coming for General Electric ($GE), and at this point in time, even the most loyal shareholders have already thrown in the towel. This industrial company's stock is down ~10% over the first three-plus weeks of 2018, and this poor stock performance comes after GE shares finished down over 40% in 2017. To add insult to injury, the industrial space has actually been a great place to put money to work over the last year.

GE has been operating in a good business environment, but more importantly, the business prospects for several of the company's operating segments (e.g., Healthcare, Aviation, and Oil & Gas) have been improving over the past few quarters. So what should shareholders do with their GE shares? In my opinion, it depends. I will tell you what I plan to do with my shares, but let's first cover the quarterly results.