GE Aerospace’s adjusted earnings per share rose 36% year on year in the quarter ended September 30, 2026, and the company raised its full-year guidance. The qualification is cash: quarterly free cash flow declined, even as the longer trailing-twelve-month measure continued to grow.
The results show stronger operating profit and revenue, while GAAP profit margin and cash from operations moved lower. The distinction between GE’s adjusted measures and its GAAP results matters when assessing the quarter.
What GE reported
GE reported GAAP revenue of $14.1 billion, up 16% year on year, and GAAP profit of $2.8 billion, up 12%. Continuing EPS under GAAP was $2.32, a 14% increase. The company’s non-GAAP adjusted revenue was $13.3 billion, up 18%, and operating profit was $3.0 billion, up 30%. Adjusted EPS was $2.25, up 36%.
Those measures did not move uniformly. GAAP profit margin was 19.9%, down 80 basis points, while non-GAAP operating profit margin was 22.5%, up 220 basis points. Cash from operating activities, the GAAP measure, declined 14% to $2.2 billion. GE’s non-GAAP free cash flow also fell 14%, to $2.0 billion.
GE said it had raised its full-year 2026 guidance across the company. Its current adjusted EPS range is $8.00 to $8.10, compared with the previous range of $7.65 to $7.85. The company also raised its free cash flow range to $9.1 billion to $9.4 billion. These are management’s non-GAAP expectations; GE said it could not reconcile them to corresponding GAAP measures without unreasonable effort, given uncertainties including restructuring costs and capital expenditure timing.
Adjusted EPS exceeded the average estimate
Adjusted EPS of $2.25 exceeded the analysts’ average estimate of $2.02 by 11.4%. The estimate is a third-party consensus figure, not a Fundamentalytics forecast. GE has beaten consensus in four of the last eight quarters, so this result adds to a mixed record rather than establishing a run of consistent beats.
The comparison shows whether the reported adjusted figure cleared expectations. It does not show how much of the increase came from recurring operations. GE’s own reconciliation removes items it says are not closely associated with ongoing operations, including insurance results, non-operating benefit income and restructuring-related items. GAAP continuing EPS provides a separate view, rising 14% to $2.32.
Growth and cash over different periods
Quarterly revenue grew 15.9% year on year. Five of the previous eight quarters had faster revenue growth. On the company-wide trailing-twelve-month series, revenue growth stood at 19.6%, but had slowed by −2.07 percentage points from the prior quarter’s reading.
Cash flow offers a different time horizon. GE’s reported quarterly free cash flow declined 14%, while its SEC-derived trailing-twelve-month free cash flow grew 24.4% year on year to $8.02 billion. The trailing-twelve-month free cash flow margin was 15.3%, an increase of 0.59 percentage points year on year. These measures cover different periods, so the longer-term increase does not erase the quarter’s fall.
GE’s diluted share count was down 2.19% year on year on the trailing-twelve-month basis. That can support per-share results, but it does not account for the full difference between GAAP and adjusted EPS or explain the operating changes.
| Measure | FY2026 Q3 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP revenue | $14.1 billion | Up 16% year on year |
| Adjusted revenue | $13.3 billion | Up 18% year on year |
| GAAP continuing EPS | $2.32 | Up 14% year on year |
| Adjusted EPS | $2.25 | Up 36% year on year |
| GAAP cash from operating activities | $2.2 billion | Down 14% year on year |
| Non-GAAP free cash flow | $2.0 billion | Down 14% year on year |
Model value depends on its assumptions
The Fundamentalytics base case uses a stage-one growth assumption of 19.6%, matching trailing-twelve-month revenue growth. If that growth assumption were 5 percentage points lower, the model value would fall 24.6%; if it were 5 percentage points higher, it would rise 31.5%. A 1 percentage point increase in the discount rate would reduce model value by 16.5%.
Cash generation also matters. A 1 percentage point lower free cash flow margin changes model value by minus 6.78%. The past year’s margin improvement, if sustained, implies a 4.16% increase in model value. The model’s sensitivity to growth is therefore larger than its sensitivity to the margin move recorded over the past year. GE’s quarterly free cash flow decline is a reason to watch whether the longer-term margin improvement persists.
These are model values under stated assumptions, not a comparison with the share price.
The next report will test cash conversion
The next report will show whether GE can sustain revenue growth while converting it into cash. The evidence to follow is whether quarterly free cash flow recovers from its decline, how the trailing-twelve-month margin develops, and whether the raised full-year guidance is supported by reported GAAP results as well as adjusted measures.
Another reading is that the quarterly cash decline reflects timing or investment needs within a fast-growing business, while the stronger trailing-twelve-month cash generation and higher guidance point to continued expansion. The filings do not break down the cause of the quarterly cash movement by segment. The earnings beat and guidance increase sit alongside weaker quarterly cash measures, leaving execution and cash conversion as the next report’s central tests.
