GE 1st-Quarter Earnings Fall Short Of Wall Street Expectations

General Electric Co. (GE) on Wednesday reported first-quarter profit of $6.2 billion.

On a per-share basis, the Boston-based company said it had net income of 70 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, were 5 cents per share.

The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 6 cents per share.

The industrial conglomerate posted revenue of $20.52 billion in the period, also falling short of Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $20.6 billion.

GE shares have declined 39% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has dropped 11%. The stock has dropped 25% in the last 12 months.