Skip to main content
hello world

Paid Post: Content produced by Motley Fool. The Globe and Mail was not involved, and material was not reviewed prior to publication.

Why Shares in GE Healthcare Looked Sick This Week

Motley Fool - Fri May 3, 10:03AM CDT

Shares in GE Healthcare(NASDAQ: GEHC) were down 8.4% for the week as of Friday at 10 a.m. ET, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The move comes after the company's disappointing first-quarter earnings report.

GE Healthcare earnings

Not only did the company miss Wall Street expectations for revenue ($4.65 billion compared to the analyst consensus of $4.8 billion), but there was also mixed margin performance in its segments.

The case for the stock rests on the idea that management can accelerate its growth now that it's a stand-alone company, not least through new product introductions (NPIs), mergers and acquisitions, improving its pricing and product platforming strategy, and developing technologies such as theranostics. The latter combines GE Healthcare's leadership in imaging with its pharmaceutical diagnostics and therapeutics so patients can be monitored and drugs can be precisely targeted to things like cancerous cells.

As the table demonstrates, ultrasound and patient care solutions reported sales and margin declines at a segment level, with management citing inflation and lower volumes in ultrasound and inflation and "timing of shipments" in patient care solutions.

Segment

Revenue

Change

EBIT Margin

Change (YOY)

Imaging

$2.466 billion

Flat

9.7%

Up 200 bp

Ultrasound

$824 million

(4%)

22.1%

Down 200 bp

Patient care solutions

$747 million

(4%)

10.9%

Down 310 bp

Pharmaceutical diagnostics

$559 million

8%

29.7

Up 190 bp

Data source: GE Healthcare Technologies. 100 bp=1%. EBIT = earnings before interest and taxation. YOY = year over year.

What's next for GE Healthcare Technologies?

When adjusting for restructuring and the investment revaluation, GE Healthcare's adjusted EBIT margin rose to 14.7% from 14.1% in the same quarter last year. Still, investors are entitled to expect a little bit more, as the stock's case rests on an aggressive expansion of margins in the coming years. Moreover, references to inflation cause concern as they may run into the coming quarters.

A patient going into a scanner.

Image source: Getty Images.

On a more positive note, management maintained its full-year guidance for an organic revenue increase of 4% and adjusted EBIT margin expansion to 15.6%-15.9% from 15.1% in 2023. Still, investors will want a better second-quarter earnings report before feeling entirely comfortable with the guidance.

Should you invest $1,000 in GE HealthCare Technologies right now?

Before you buy stock in GE HealthCare Technologies, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and GE HealthCare Technologies wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than tripled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 30, 2024

Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.