GE Profit Tumbles 42%, Revenue Down 20%

GE sales fell 20 percent — down across all its businesses, which range from selling railroad locomotives to making commercial loans to running the NBC Universal media business. It noted that orders, an indicator of future sales, also fell.

This is a shocking decline. GE with its tentacles in so many businesses is much more reflective of the overall economy, than, say, Google.

GE said third-quarter profit fell 42 percent to $2.49 billion, or 23 cents per share, down from $4.31 billion, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier.

The fall in revenue reflected soft demand, its move to scale back GE Capital and the fact that last year's results included revenue related to the Beijing Olympics, GE said. It noted that orders were down 18 percent.