Energy equipment manufacturer GE Vernova (GEV) has joined the broader stock market sell-off after China fired back with retaliatory tariffs.
With Trump’s tariffs threatening GE Vernova’s delicate balancing act between the U.S. and China, the stock dropped 8.8% to close at $261.48, with trading volume nearly double the daily average.
Until Friday, GEV had managed to dodge the worst of the recent turbulence, logging four straight days of gains.
Formed in 2024 as a spin-off of General Electric’s energy business, GEV inherited GE’s legacy operations and customer base, with a growing focus on renewables.
That positioning helped the company outperform in a shaky market, buoyed by strong demand for its renewable energy and power generation solutions.
GE Vernova’s fourth-quarter earnings added fuel to the rally, with record orders, record revenue, and rising profit margins. The company closed the year with $35 billion in revenue and a $44 billion order backlog.
Executives credited the momentum to GEV’s mission of “electrifying and decarbonizing the world.”
But now, that momentum faces a major test.
Trade-war crosshairs
GE Vernova initially held steady after President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2.
But the stock tumbled the next day when China struck back with 34% duties on U.S. imports — a move Beijing called a response to Trump’s “typical unilateral bullying practice.”
The tit-for-tat tariffs pose real risks for GEV, which has extensive operations in China. The company has installed about 50 gigawatts of gas power capacity in the country, with 110 Chinese customers and 240 turbines in the field.
Analysts at Bank of America flagged GEV months ago as one of six stocks most vulnerable to a full-blown trade war. At the time, their model was based on a 10% tariff scenario — a far cry from the combined 54% tariff imposed by Trump or China’s swift retaliation.
“Based on aggregate data for all U.S. manufacturing, a 10% across-the-board tariff would drag margins by about 1.2 percentage points on average,” BoA analysts wrote, noting GEV as a key name at risk.
In its January earnings report, GE Vernova made no mention of China, tariffs, or the looming trade conflict. Management reaffirmed its 2025 outlook — calling for higher revenue, rising profitability, and stronger free cash flow.
If tensions escalate further, those targets may have to be revised in the company’s next earnings update.
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