General Electric Earnings Highlights

General Electric (NYSE:GE) today announced second quarter EPS of $0.38 per share vs. $0.34 a year ago. Revenues were up 2%, which was disappointing. GE had earnings of $4.0 billion, up only 7% from second quarter of 2011. These results indicate that economic growth is still very slow but GE has been successful cutting expenses and improving earnings. Share buybacks, which totaled $0.9 billion, also helped EPS improve.

The impact of strong dollar on revenues were $0.9 billion or 2.5% of total revenues for the quarter. McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), and Procter&Gamble (NYSE:PG) were among the companies that reported negative currency effects. Coca-Cola was the most successful among these to lessen the blow by increasing its topline.

When we include the effects of discontinued operations  General Electric’s EPS attributable to GE declines to $0.29. “Discontinued Operations included $0.05 per share of charges primarily related to WMC and GE Money Japan reserve adjustments. Positive one-time tax items of $0.02 per share were offset by $0.02 per share of restructuring and other charges,” the company said.

Billionaires Ken Fisher and Warren Buffett are among GE’s top shareholders. Adage Capital Management had the largest stake in the company among the 400 hedge funds we are tracking. GE, however, isn’t a very attractive stock among hedge funds.