Al Root
GE Vernova's epic run has taken shares too far, too fast for some on Wall Street.
The energy equipment manufacturer's stock was down early Thursday after catching a downgrade.
Seaport analyst Tom Curran downgraded shares to Hold from Buy. He doesn't have a price target for the stock. His neutral rating essentially implies shares should keep up with the market.
The move came after GE Vernova closed at a record high of$723 a share on Wednesday, rising 15.6% following the company's Tuesday evening investor event in New York City.
Investors got a lot at the meeting including increased share buybacks, a doubled dividend, and guidance for 2028 that implies more than $10 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda. Ahead of the Street and triple Ebitda expected for 2025.
The investor day "gifts" bested the Street's wish list, wrote Curran, but "after this big step-up of 2028 targets, we see balanced risk-reward [for shares]."
The downgrade is relatively simple and something many stocks can struggle with after rising -- they look less attractive than they did.
Vernova shares lost 2.6% on Thursday, closing at $704.20. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2% and 1.3%, respectively.
Coming into Thursday trading, GE Vernova stock was up 120% so far this year.
Overall, 71% of analysts covering GE Vernova shares rate them Buy, according to FactSet. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%. The average analyst price target for GE Vernova stock is about $731, up about $39 since the analyst event. That $39 is worth more than $10 billion in market value.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
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December 11, 2025 17:02 ET (22:02 GMT)
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