General Electric Company (GE) is scheduled to report results of its fourth fiscal quarter before the market opens on Wednesday, January 24, with a conference call scheduled for 8:30 am ET. What to watch for: 1. GUIDANCE: On October 20, 2017, GE reported its third quarter results and cut its fiscal 2017 earnings per share guidance to $1.05-$1.10 from its previously reaffirmed guidance range of $1.60-$1.70, against consensus estimates of $1.53 at that time. On November 13, 2017, GE announced its Framework for 2018 includes adjusted EPS of $1.00-$1.07, versus analyst estimates of $1.14, at that time. Framework also includes free cash flow of $6B-$7B. Says capital allocation focused on total shareholder return. Comments taken from slides being presented at GE’s investor update. On January 16, GE announced it sees 2017 industrial operating & Verticals EPS at low end of its $1.05-$1.10 guidance, versus a consensus estimate of $1.07. 2. INSURANCE OPERATIONS CHARGE: On January 16, GE announced the comprehensive review and reserve testing for GE Capital’s run-off insurance portfolio, North American Life & Health, will result in an after-tax GAAP charge of $6.2B for the fourth quarter of 2017, and GE Capital expects to make statutory reserve contributions of approximately $15B over seven years. 3. STRATEGIC OPTIONS: On January 17, the New York Post reported that Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management is urging General Electric to consider possible sales or spin-outs of many of its businesses including in health and power. “We are looking aggressively at the best structure or structures for our portfolio to maximize the potential of our businesses,” said CEO John Flannery, who has reportedly been meeting with Trian founding partner and GE director Ed Garden. On January 19, Deutsche Bank warned the the company may be forced to raise equity capital. Given General Electric’s current “cash squeeze” and growing liquidity pressures, the company may ultimately be forced to raise equity capital, Deutsche Bank analyst John Inch tells investors in a research note. 4. DIVIDEND CUT: On November 13, 2017, GE announced its intent to cut its dividend by 50% to 12c per share. CEO John Flannery said, “We understand the importance of this decision to our shareowners and we have not made it lightly. We are focused on driving total shareholder return and believe this is the right decision to align our dividend payout to cash flow generation. The dividend remains an important component of GE’s capital allocation framework. With this action and others that we will be discussing this morning, we are acting with urgency to make GE simpler and stronger to drive growth and create more value for our shareowners.”