General Electric Q4 2025 Earnings Analysis

**BETA FINCH PODCAST SCRIPT**---**ALEX:** Welcome to Beta Finch, your AI-powered earnings breakdown where we turn corporate earnings calls into conversations that actually make sense. I'm Alex.**JORDAN:** And I'm Jordan. Today we're diving into GE Aerospace's Q4 2025 earnings call, and wow - this was one impressive quarter to close out the year.**ALEX:** Before we get started, I need to mention that this podcast is AI-generated content for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing we discuss should be considered investment advice. Always do your own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.**JORDAN:** Absolutely. Now Alex, let's talk about these numbers because GE Aerospace just delivered what CEO Larry Culp called "an outstanding year." We're looking at some seriously impressive double-digit growth across the board.**ALEX:** The headline numbers are pretty striking, Jordan. For Q4, orders were up 74% - that's massive. Revenue increased 20%, earnings per share jumped 19% to $1.57, and free cash flow grew 15%. But the full-year picture is even more compelling.**JORDAN:** Right, and that's where it gets really interesting. Full-year orders up 32%, revenue up 21%, and here's the kicker - operating profit grew by $1.8 billion dollars. That's not a percentage, that's $1.8 billion in absolute dollars. Free cash flow was up $1.5 billion to $7.7 billion total.**ALEX:** What I found fascinating was how CEO Larry Culp framed this. He kept coming back to their purpose statement: "We invent the future of flight, lift people up, and bring them home safely." But then he backed that up with some hard data - nearly one million people are in flight right now with GE technology under wing.**JORDAN:** And let's talk about that backlog, Alex. They're sitting on roughly $190 billion in backlog, up nearly $20 billion over the last year. That's not just a number - that's visibility into future revenue streams. When you have that kind of contracted future business, it gives you incredible confidence in your guidance.**ALEX:** Speaking of guidance, let's break down what they're expecting for 2026. They're forecasting low double-digit revenue growth, with commercial services up mid-teens. Operating profit is expected to hit $9.85 to $10.25 billion - that's up a billion dollars at the midpoint.**JORDAN:** And here's what caught my attention - CFO Rahul Ghai said they expect to hit that $10 billion operating profit milestone in 2026, which is two years earlier than their original outlook. That's not just meeting expectations, that's accelerating past them.**ALEX:** The EPS guidance of $7.10 to $7.40 represents nearly 15% growth at the midpoint. And free cash flow? They're projecting $8 to $8.4 billion. Jordan, when you look at these numbers, what's really driving this performance?**JORDAN:** It's really a tale of two segments, Alex. Their Commercial Engines & Services segment is absolutely on fire. CES orders were up 35% for the year, revenue grew 24%, and here's the key - services orders up 27% and revenue up 26%. That's the high-margin aftermarket business that keeps printing money for decades after an engine is sold.**ALEX:** Right, and their Defense, Power & Technology segment, while smaller, also showed solid growth with orders up 19% and revenue up 11%. But let's dig into what's happening operationally because there were some really interesting strategic moves announced.**JORDAN:** Absolutely. They're doing a major organizational restructuring. They're expanding their CES division to include their Technology & Operations team, now led by Muhammad Ali. The goal is better end-to-end engine lifecycle management. And they're elevating their customer-facing teams to report directly to the CEO.**ALEX:** That organizational change seems designed to address what Culp acknowledged multiple times - their customers need more from them, faster. They talked extensively aThis episode includes AI-generated content.