Buy GE shares, Deutsche Bank says, because split is a suitable ‘end game’

On Tuesday, the stock climbed 2.7% to $ 111.29, the first closing above the top of its long trading range of around $ 100 to $ 110 in five months, after GE announced its intends to separate from GE Healthcare in early 2023, combine GE Renewable Energy, GE Power and GE Digital into one company, then separate in early 2024 and the remaining company focuses on aviation.

Do not miss: The GE share reaches its highest level in 5 months while the plan to split into 3 companies reinforces the hopes of a breakout.

GE stock is up 28.3% this year, while the S&P 500 SPX index is up 24.5%.

“We never fully understood the need for these companies to sit together within the business – and we agree that the shift to three purely active companies should bring better focus and pathways to value creation for all three, ”DeBlase wrote in a note to clients. “We fully agree with this plan and believe it is an appropriate ‘endgame’ for what has proven to be a successful transformation. “

DeBlase upped its rating on GE to buy, after being suspended for at least two years. It has raised its target stock price to $ 131, which implies an increase of about 18% from current levels, starting at $ 119.

“We recognize that our own work cautions against stocks that trade sideways between the period between the announcement of the rotation and the end of the rotation, but we would rather be early given the amount of value that can be unlocked here. Deblase wrote, as she also enjoys GE’s “end-of-cycle market skew” and exposure to several important age-old themes, such as decarbonization and precision healthcare.

UBS analyst Markus Mittermaier, who has been bullish on GE for the past two years, said he believed the split announcement “is the start of a journey, rather than the end.”

He reiterated his buy rating, while raising his target for the stock price to $ 143, which would be the highest of analysts polled by FactSet, from $ 136.

“We believe that concentration is valuable at GE, where the complexity itself has been a deterrent for many investors,” Mittermaier wrote.

Then there’s always Stephen Tusa of JP Morgan, who has been neutral or bearish on GE for years, and was among the first on Wall Street to warn investors about the company’s downfall. He doesn’t believe the split will solve GE’s problems.

Since GE will retain a 19.9% ​​stake in GE Healthcare, the shareholders of the split will only see 80.1% of the value, Tusa said, which he said was also difficult to calculate. He added that GE’s renewable energy business is “possibly the most difficult” of the companies it covers, “and likely to collapse under countless warnings from nearly every global peer.”

Like DeBlase, Tusa also noted that most spins “pass the water” between ad and consumption, but unlike DeBlase, he said flat trading is the “best case” for the actions of GE. He actually sees a “clear path” towards $ 80 to $ 85 for the stock.

“Ultimately, the portfolio’s earlier attempts to ‘create value’ have fallen victim to weak underlying details compared to the historically positive narrative under GE’s umbrella,” Tusa wrote. “[T]To be clear, consider $ 80- $ 85 as a starting point for the debate before the actual underlying numbers are reported, which we believe shouldn’t be “better” than standing indications. “