Summary
GE brought in a much-needed outsider to run the company.
Most significant change will be on the company's culture.
Buy GE.
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News that General Electric (GE) would replace John Flannery sent the stock to as high as $13.00 on October 1, but this may prove to be short lived. Investors welcomed the much-needed leadership change but troubles still loom. GE has problems so big that an outside CEO may not be enough to fix the company. Still, Lawrence Culp, who ran Danaher (NYSE:DHR) with great success, could defy those odds.
Larry Culp’s past successes are nothing short of impressive. He led Danaher as CEO from 2000 to 2014 and raised its market capitalization by five-fold, to $50 billion. International sales at this firm rose from 40 to 60 percent as Danaher boosted growth through acquisitions worth around $25 billion. Culp clearly has the experience and skillset GE needs to turn around its international businesses. Near term, though, the wizard CEO has plenty of headwinds to overcome.
