GE CEO stands by cash forecast despite pressure from 737 Max

While the company's cash burn could worsen to as much as $2 billion in the first quarter because of "pressure" from the Max crisis, GE will reap the rewards of a rebound later in the year, Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp said Wednesday at a Barclays conference. GE's manufacturing businesses will generate as much as $4 billion in free cash this year, he reiterated.

Culp's sanguine outlook for 2020 offered a measure of relief to investors concerned over the Max's impact on GE, which makes engines for Boeing's best-selling jet. The plane has been grounded for almost a year following a pair of deadly crashes.

GE expects to set aside about $100 million in the first quarter related to its old long-term care insurance business, a smaller amount than expected, Culp said. Separately, he cautioned that the virus outbreak in China is a "wild card" for the near-term performance of the Boston-based company, which also makes power equipment and medical scanners.

GE rose 1.2% to $12.90 at 10:32 a.m. in New York. The stock climbed 14% this year though Tuesday, compared with a 3.1% advance for a Standard & Poor's index of U.S. industrial companies. GE jumped 53% last year, a partial recovery after a share collapse the previous two years.