GE Aerospace (NYSE: GE) eased lower on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, closing at $283.60, down about 0.6% on the day, with an intraday range between roughly $281 and $286. [1]
In extended trading, the stock barely moved, hovering around $283.7 and essentially flat versus the close. [2]
That quiet after-hours tape came despite fresh contract wins and ongoing bullish long‑term forecasts, in a macro backdrop dominated by a fresh Federal Reserve rate cut and a spectacular rally in spin‑off GE Vernova. [3]
Below is what actually happened after the bell on December 10 — and the key things traders and longer‑term investors should know before the market opens on Thursday, December 11, 2025.
1. GE Aerospace stock snapshot after the bell
- Close (Dec 10, 2025): $283.60, down 0.60% on the day.
- Intraday range: Opened near $285.45, traded as high as about $285.9 and as low as ~$281.3. [4]
- Volume: Roughly 5.5 million shares, modestly above some recent sessions. [5]
- After-hours: Around $283.7, up only a few cents versus the close. [6]
From its late‑October Q3 earnings pop, when the stock traded around $307, GE Aerospace is now roughly 8% below those highs, but still massively higher than where it traded around the time of the 2024 spin‑off. [7]
On a longer horizon, GE Aerospace remains a star performer:
- Its shares are up about 70% in 2025, versus roughly 17% for the S&P 500, according to recent coverage of industrial leaders. [8]
- Since the April 2024 break‑up of the old GE conglomerate, GE Aerospace stock is up over 100%, even after the recent pullback. [9]
Short version: Wednesday’s move was a cooling, not a collapse.
2. Fresh company news on December 10: Navy destroyers and maintenance tech
New LM2500 orders for Arleigh Burke Flight III destroyers
After the bell, one of the most concrete pieces of GE‑specific news was a new U.S. Navy contract:
- GE Aerospace’s Marine Engines & Systems business received orders for eight LM2500 marine gas turbine engines.
- The engines will power two new Flight III Arleigh Burke‑class guided‑missile destroyers: the future USS Intrepid (DDG‑145) and USS Robert Kerrey (DDG‑146). [10]
- Each ship uses four LM2500 engines; with this order, GE will have supplied engines for all active Arleigh Burke destroyers, nearly 300 LM2500 units across more than 70 ships. [11]
The LM2500 is described by GE as the workhorse of the U.S. surface fleet, with very high reliability and decades of operational history. [12]
For investors, this isn’t a blockbuster revenue event by itself, but it reinforces a central part of the GE Aerospace story: recurring defense demand and a durable installed base.
360 Foam Wash: squeezing more profit out of the installed base
Also dated December 10, Aviation Week highlighted GE Aerospace’s push to industrialize its 360 Foam Wash system inside its global MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) shops. [13]
Key points from that piece:
- GE has performed more than 6,000 foam washes since 2017 on engines like the GE90 and GEnx.
- Compared with traditional water washes, the system has delivered up to three times the fuel savings by reducing deposits, lowering exhaust gas temperature, and improving compressor efficiency. [14]
- GE estimates annual CO₂ reductions of roughly 70 tons per GEnx‑powered 787 and 380 tons per GE90‑powered 777 for airlines using the system. [15]
- 360 Foam Wash is now being rolled out inside GE’s own shops and partner MRO facilities, reducing wash time and making inspections faster and more reliable. [16]
This is not flashy headline stuff, but it directly feeds margin expansion: better on‑wing performance, lower fuel burn for customers, and more efficient maintenance all support the high‑margin services business that drives much of GE Aerospace’s valuation.
3. Q3 results and raised 2025 guidance still frame the story
Even though Q3 was reported back in October, those numbers still dominate how Wall Street views GE Aerospace heading into year‑end.
From GE’s Q3 2025 press release: [17]
- Total orders: $12.8 billion, up about 2% year over year.
- Revenue: $12.2 billion (GAAP), up 24%; adjusted revenue up 26%.
- Profit: $2.5 billion (GAAP), up 33%; adjusted EPS $1.66, up 44%.
- Free cash flow: about $2.4 billion, up 30% versus the prior year.
The Commercial Engines & Services (CES) segment — the heart of the civil aviation business — posted: [18]
- Orders up 5%
- Revenue up 27%, with services revenue up 28%
- Equipment revenue up 22%, with unit volume up about 33%
- Record LEAP engine deliveries, up roughly 40% year over year
Defense & Propulsion Technologies also delivered 26% revenue growth and 75% profit growth, helped by higher engine volumes and better pricing. [19]
On the back of that performance, GE Aerospace raised guidance across the board for 2025:
- Adjusted EPS now expected in the $6.00–$6.20 range, up from $5.60–$5.80 previously. [20]
- CES revenue is now expected to grow in the low‑20% range (vs. high‑teens previously), with operating profit guided to $8.45–$8.65 billion, up from $8.0–$8.2 billion. [21]
That guidance is exactly what current analyst models and price targets are built on. The stock’s recent drift lower has been more about valuation compression after a huge run than a deterioration in the fundamental story.
4. Analyst forecasts and price targets going into December 11
The Street is still broadly positive — though no longer unanimously euphoric.
According to MarketBeat’s latest summary: [22]
- Consensus rating: “Moderate Buy”
- Breakdown: 16 Buy, 2 Hold, 2 Sell, across 20 covering analysts
- Average 12‑month price target:$304.31, implying about 7% upside from the latest ~$283–284 price
- Highest target:$374
- Lowest target:$38 (likely a legacy bearish outlier rather than a fresh view)
Recent rating actions show incrementally bullish tweaks rather than dramatic reversals:
- Susquehanna started coverage on December 4 with a “Positive” rating and a $350 price target, implying more than 20% upside. [23]
- Over October, Bank of America, JPMorgan, UBS, RBC, Goldman Sachs, Wolfe Research, Deutsche Bank and TD Cowen all raised their targets, many into the $325–$365 range while reiterating Buy or Outperform ratings. [24]
Other data points:
- StockAnalysis tracks the average rating as “Strong Buy” across a smaller analyst set. [25]
- AI‑driven platform Danelfin gives GE Aerospace an AI Score of 10/10, estimating a roughly 67% chance of beating the market over the next three months, well above the average U.S. stock. [26]
- A recent valuation review on Yahoo‑hosted research pegged “fair value” for GE Aerospace near $339–340, implying around 20% upside from recent trading levels, based on its aerospace growth trajectory. [27]
Taken together, the Street’s message going into Thursday is basically:
The growth story still looks strong, but after a near‑vertical two‑year run, upside from here is less about multiple expansion and more about execution against that raised guidance.
5. Dividends and cash returns: not the main attraction (yet)
On December 4, GE Aerospace’s board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, payable on January 26, 2026, to shareholders of record on December 29, 2025. [28]
At a $283–284 share price, that works out to an annualized yield of roughly 0.5% — tiny, but symbolically important. Most of the stock’s appeal is still about growth and cash generation, not income, but the company is clearly comfortable returning cash even while it invests heavily in capacity, R&D and manufacturing.
6. Ownership moves: insiders and institutions are busy
The last few days have produced a flurry of filings around GE Aerospace ownership.
Big insider purchase via GE Pension Trust
A 24/7 Wall St. roundup of early‑December insider buying highlighted GE Aerospace as one of the stand‑out transactions: [29]
- General Electric Pension Trust, a 10% beneficial owner, bought almost $10 million worth of GE Aerospace shares in early December.
- The article notes that the stock is still up more than 100% since the April 2024 split, even after a recent pullback of nearly 7% over the past month.
- It also cites a mean analyst price target near $339.69, implying roughly 19% expected upside, and highlights the new Susquehanna $350 target. [30]
That kind of insider‑aligned buying tends to be read as a confidence signal in the medium‑term trajectory.
Institutions reshuffling positions
Recent MarketBeat notes and 13F filings reveal a mix of trimming and accumulation: [31]
- Albar Capital Partners initiated a new position worth about $2.3 million in GE Aerospace. [32]
- AXA S.A. reduced its stake by roughly 2.2% in the second quarter but remains a significant holder. [33]
- State Street Corp has raised its holdings, reflecting continued institutional sponsorship. [34]
- On the insider side, Senior Vice President Russell Stokes sold about 8,000 shares at an average price near $297.71 in November, trimming his stake by just over 5% but still leaving him with more than 150,000 shares. [35]
The pattern here is typical of a mature large‑cap winner: some profit‑taking and position‑sizing, but no sign of a broad institutional exodus.
7. Macro backdrop: Fed cut, economic data, and GE Vernova’s monster day
Fed cut on December 10: a “hawkish” tailwind
On December 10, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, bringing the federal funds target range down to 3.50–3.75%. Policymakers signalled a likely pause, with projections pointing to only one further cut in 2026. [36]
Markets interpreted it as a classic “hawkish cut”:
- Inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% target, but is easing.
- Growth projections for 2026 were nudged up to about 2.3%, with unemployment seen holding near 4.4%. [37]
For capital‑intensive, cyclically sensitive names like GE Aerospace, lower rates are broadly supportive — they help airlines, leasing companies, and industrial borrowers finance fleets and infrastructure — but the Fed’s cautious tone also raises the bar for earnings execution.
Key U.S. data on deck for December 11, 2025
Going into Thursday’s open, several economic releases could move industrials and cyclicals, including aerospace:
- Initial jobless claims (for the week of Dec 6) at 8:30 a.m. ET. [38]
- Producer Price Index (PPI) and core PPI data in the early morning (various calendars flag PPI releases for December 11). [39]
- Trade balance and wholesale inventories data, also pegged for Thursday morning in several macro calendars. [40]
- A BLS state employment and unemployment report scheduled for 10:00 a.m. ET. [41]
These numbers won’t be GE‑specific, but they can shift sector sentiment and index‑level flows, which often swamp stock‑specific news at the open.
GE Vernova’s huge rally and what it signals
Meanwhile, GE Vernova (NYSE: GEV) — spun off in 2024 — stole the show on December 10:
- Vernova raised its 2026 revenue and free‑cash‑flow outlook, lifted its share repurchase authorization to $10 billion, and doubled its dividend to $0.50 per share. [42]
- The stock jumped between 13% and 16%, hitting record levels around $707–$723, and is now up around 120% in 2025 and more than 370% since the spin‑off, depending on the source. [43]
For GE Aerospace, Vernova’s blowout day is notable in two ways:
- It reaffirms the broader “GE ecosystem” transformation: both spin‑offs are demonstrating that the breakup unlocked shareholder value.
- It may pull some incremental capital toward energy and electrification plays, potentially making GE Aerospace’s pullback more about relative rotation than company‑specific trouble.
8. What to watch before the market opens on December 11
For traders and investors planning their Thursday strategy around GE Aerospace, here are the key moving parts.
1. Premarket reaction to Wednesday’s macro and sector news
- Watch index futures and sector ETFs like industrials and aerospace/defense in the premarket. A positive read‑through from the Fed cut and benign PPI or jobless claims could lift the whole sector, GE included.
- Any follow‑through rally (or reversal) in GE Vernova could also color sentiment toward GE Aerospace, given their shared lineage and overlapping shareholder base. [44]
2. Trading around recent technical levels
Looking just at this month’s price history: [45]
- Short‑term support has been showing up in the low‑280s (Dec 5 close near 283.9, intraday low on Dec 10 around 281.3).
- On the upside, the 290–295 area has been a recent ceiling (highs from earlier this month).
If macro data come in hotter or cooler than expected, the open could test one of those zones pretty quickly.
3. Follow‑up coverage on Navy orders and MRO initiatives
The LM2500 destroyer order and 360 Foam Wash industrialization aren’t likely to move the stock dramatically on their own, but:
- Any sell‑side notes that explicitly tie these updates to margin expansion or backlog visibility could give the stock a small premium.
- The 360 Foam Wash story, in particular, plays straight into the aftermarket services thesis — the engine is already sold; now GE is squeezing extra economics out of the maintenance lifecycle. [46]
4. Fresh commentary on valuation and upside
GE’s recent pullback has already triggered valuation pieces and insider‑buying write‑ups arguing there’s still double‑digit upside based on consensus targets in the low‑ to mid‑$300s. [47]
Going into December 11, keep tabs on:
- Any target changes or rating revisions following the Fed meeting.
- Whether analysts lean more on the 7% “official” upside from the $304 consensus target, or on the more aggressive $339–$350 target range cited in some research and the Susquehanna note. [48]
9. Key risks investors should remember
Even with all the positive noise, there are real risks that could shape how GE Aerospace trades into and beyond Thursday’s open:
- Valuation risk: After a 70% year‑to‑date run and more than 100% gains since the split, even a high‑quality compounder can be vulnerable to multiple compression if growth slows. [49]
- Cycle risk in aviation: The story heavily depends on robust air traffic and airline profitability to sustain LEAP engine deliveries and high‑margin services. A reversal in global travel or airline finances would hurt. [50]
- Defense and geopolitical risk: Defense revenue benefits from military budgets and naval expansion, but it is also exposed to political decisions, budget cycles and program risk. [51]
- Labor and supply‑chain risk: Earlier this year, GE Aerospace weathered a three‑week strike, and Boeing’s ongoing labor tensions were a negative overhang in September. [52] Supply chains have improved, but they’re not invincible. [53]
- Macro and rate path uncertainty: The Fed’s latest cut is supportive, but the committee is divided, inflation is not fully tamed, and markets are pricing only modest further easing. [54]
GE itself underlines many of these uncertainties in its risk disclosures — from macro volatility and demand shocks to safety, regulatory and cybersecurity issues. [55]
10. Bottom line before the December 11 open
As of the close and after‑hours session on December 10, 2025, GE Aerospace looks like a stock in a healthy consolidation after a ferocious multi‑year advance:
- The fundamental engine — record LEAP deliveries, strong aftermarket growth, rising defense orders, and raised 2025 EPS guidance — is still very much running. [56]
- Analysts remain bullish on balance, with moderate‑to‑strong buy ratings and price targets clustered between $304 and the mid‑$300s. [57]
- Insider and institutional flows show big long‑term holders adding, even as some investors lock in profits after the rally. [58]
- Macro conditions — especially the new Fed rate cut and Thursday’s data slate — will likely drive the tone of the tape at the open more than any single company headline. [59]
References
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