Is This Stock a No-Brainer Investment?
General Electric (NYSE: GE) has done itself no favors trying to live up to the weight of its name in a world of specialization. Looking at the company's record of acquisitions and divestments over the past 20 years reads like some sort of stereotypical Millennial start-up — albeit with a multibillion dollar budget — hiring and firing entire subsidiaries like employees, unsure of the mix it should employ to provide value to its investors.
On paper, GE competes with other "international conglomerates" — companies like Siemens (OTC: SIEGY) and United Technologies (NYSE: UTX). In reality, GE spread itself far too thin in the Immelt (CEO from 2001-2017) and Flannery (CEO from 2017-2018) eras, lagging behind market trends with off-brand deals into banking and entertainment while selling off core operations, like its 1993 aerospace sell-off, which eventually became part of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)
Image Source: General Electric
Source Fool.com
