What Did General Electric CEO H. Lawrence Culp Jr. Say To Send GE’s Stock Surging?

General Electric (GE) has made great strides to stop its cash burn as the coronavirus ravished its Aviation arm, but with strong future expectations from its chief executive, the company saw its share price surge nearly 11% at market close on Wednesday.

General Electric’s CEO H. Lawrence Culp Jr. kept his optimism high for Q3 and beyond during the Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference but failed to give real numbers on the company’s prospects for the next quarter.

Culp, who has reduced staff by 25% and cut $2 billion in costs, is ready to stop GE’s bleeding, which has been occurring over the last two years. The company has reported losses of $4.3 billion from its industrial operations in the first half of 2020, but expects to reduce those losses for Q3.

What has been hurting GE the most is the impact on airline travel due to the coronavirus. Not only has air travel stalled during the pandemic, but consumer confidence has decreased in flying as a result of the pandemic. General Electric, which produces aircraft engines under its Aviation division, saw its sales drop during the pandemic, causing significant losses for the company.

But Culp said recovery is coming. GE is seeing commercial air travel demand returning in China to pre-pandemic levels, but U.S. consumer flying is still a long way off from recovery, Culp indicated.

He said: “This industry will recover. It’s not going to be next year.”

But it hasn’t been all bad news for GE, which has seen both its Military and Healthcare units do well. The news of a possible COVID-19 vaccine could also help the company recover as it could mean a return of air travel in the U.S. sooner than expected, Culp said.

Despite the uncertainty of the pandemic, Culp expects GE to have a “positive second half” with a “robust finish” to the year. While exact performance numbers were not released, Culp said the company would be cash-flow positive for the second half of the year as well as into 2021.

“I sit here today feeling very confident about where we’re going despite all the trials and tribulations that COVID has thrown at us,” Culp said. “We’re going to have to make our own luck.”

Shares of GE were trading at $6.79 as of 9:31 a.m. EDT, up 4 cents, or 0.59%.