GE Aerospace: The Annuity in the Sky

Installed base of ~80,000 GE/CFM engines underpins a multi-decade aftermarket annuity - each engine yields 25-30 years of shop visits, parts and overhauls; Q1 engine deliveries +43% accelerates that revenue stream

Q1 highlights: total revenue $12.4B (+25%), adjusted revenue $11.6B (+29%), operating profit $2.5B (+18%), adj EPS $1.86 (+25%, beat $1.60), FCF $1.7B (+14%), orders +87%, backlog $211.3B

Operating margin compressed 200 bps to 21.8% after shipping 214 additional commercial engines - equipment sales dilute margins now but each unit initiates a 25-year services contract and future aftermarket cash flow

Balance sheet and returns: $2.21B buybacks in Q1 vs $15B authorization, management pledges 100% available FCF return over 3 years, buyback yield ~2.2%, dividend 0.55%, five-year DPS growth 48.5%

Valuation and risk - trading at ~37-38x forward EPS, P/FCF ~39, EV/EBITDA ~25; current $297.15 sits below Strong Buy - key risks: multiple sensitivity, near-term estimate softness, supply and airframer concentration

What 80,000 spinning engines mean for a stock that already gave back the post-earnings bounce and now sits 15% below February's high.

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On May 6, 2026, (GE) Aerospace ripped 6.68% higher to $305.83 after one of the cleanest fundamental beats this earnings season. By Friday's close two sessions later, the stock had drifted back to $297.15, giving up roughly half of that bounce and dropping back below $300. The stock had spent the prior couple of months getting absolutely scolded, sliding from a February 25 record high of $348.48 down to the high $260s before buyers finally showed up. The chart now looks less like a broken uptrend and more like a healthy one digesting a sharp rebound, which is a meaningfully different setup than where things stood three trading days ago.

The interesting question is not whether (GE) is a good business. Almost everyone agrees it is. The interesting question is whether a forward earnings multiple in the high 30s still makes sense after a year that delivered 41.6% returns, 87% order growth, and a backlog north of $211 billion. That is the actual debate, and the data does not give a tidy answer.

GE Aerospace: The Annuity in the Sky

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