Business Corpus: GE Stock Retakes Key Threshold As Sale Nears For This Prized AssetGeneral Electric may be close to inking a $40 billion deal for its aircraft-leasing business as the conglomerate cuts costs and assets. GE stock jumped on the news. The post GE Stock Retakes Key Threshold As Sale Nears For This Prized Asset appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.

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General Electric (GE) may be close to inking a $40 billion deal for its aircraft-leasing business as the conglomerate cuts costs and assets. GE stock jumped on the news Monday as it continues to come off multiyear lows.

Apollo Global Management is working to secure financing to buy all or part of GE's jet-leasing unit, Bloomberg reported late Friday.

Sources told the publication that a deal is not imminent and that private equity firm Apollo is one of several suitors for GE Capital Aviation Services, or GECAS. The unit is often seen as one of GE's best assets.

But analysts were cautious about the potential benefits of a deal. JPMorgan's Stephen Tusa said GECAS may be worth more like $30 billion and is unlikely to be a "silver bullet."

"We remain skeptical on the company's ability to harvest enough value out of its assets to reduce liabilities, both hard and soft," he warned in a note.

Barclays also cautioned that a deal's long-term impact on GE stock can't be known unless there's more clarity on GE Capital's liabilities.

GE stock rose 2.2% to 8.41 on the stock market today, retaking the 50-day line for the first time since late October. Shares of air-leasing rival AerCap (AER) rose 1.7% and Air Lease (AL) punched up 4.4%. Boeing (BA) stock was flat, while Airbus (EADSY) lost 2.2%.

GE Stock Attempts Rebound

GE has been looking to sell or spin off its aircraft leasing unit for more than a year, as emerging Asian rivals force consolidation in the sector. CIT Group (CIT) sold its aircraft leasing business to Chinese-owned Avolon Holdings in 2017.

GECAS and AerCap count as the world's two largest aircraft leasing companies. The GE unit owns or services a fleet of nearly 2,000 aircraft, valued at about $40 billion.

The shrinking conglomerate seeks to dismantle its financing arm and shed prized health care assets while sharpening its focus to aviation, power and renewable energy.

Its moves to transform a once-sprawling portfolio have largely failed to impress investors, with GE stock hitting a nearly decade low in December.

But shares have been coming back steadily in the last few weeks despite the volatility on the broader stock market.

Since Dec. 24, GE stock has climbed more than 20%, hitting the highest level since mid-November. GE stock's relative strength line has also been trending upward.

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The post GE Stock Retakes Key Threshold As Sale Nears For This Prized Asset appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.