GE Vernova (GEV) Stock Crushed Earnings by 790% — So Why the Downgrade?

TLDR

• GE Vernova stock is up 209% over the past 12 months and hit new 52-week highs last week
• Q1 EPS came in at $17.44 vs. the $1.95 estimate — a 790% beat
• BNP Paribas downgraded GEV to Hold, citing limited turbine capacity through end of decade
• Wall Street’s average price target jumped 22% to $1,179 after earnings
• 74% of analysts covering GEV rate it a Buy, well above the S&P 500 average of 55–60%

GE Vernova has had one of the more eye-catching runs on Wall Street. Coming into this week, the stock was up 209% over the past 12 months — and up 76% in 2026 alone. Then it hit new 52-week highs after a blowout earnings report, and now it has a fresh downgrade to deal with.

GE Vernova Inc., GEV

BNP Paribas cut its rating on GEV to Hold from Buy, making it one of the more notable calls on the stock this week. The firm’s reasoning was straightforward: things are good, but GE Vernova has essentially sold out its turbine capacity through the end of the decade, which limits how much further growth can be squeezed out of the business in the near term. BNP raised its price target to $1,190, up from $765 — a price the stock was trading below as recently as February.

GEV was down 1.6% in premarket trading Monday, sitting around $1,131.

A Quarter That Turned Heads

The earnings that set this all off were hard to ignore. GE Vernova reported Q1 EPS of $17.44 against a consensus estimate of $1.95 — that’s a beat of roughly 790%. Revenue came in at $9.34 billion, ahead of the $9.19 billion analysts expected, and up 17% year-over-year.

The company also raised its free cash flow guidance and pointed to data center electrification as a key growth driver. Power-hungry AI infrastructure is driving electricity demand at a pace not seen in a generation, and GE Vernova sits squarely in the path of that demand.

The stock jumped nearly 14% on the day of earnings. Wall Street responded by lifting price targets across the board — the average target moved from $968 to $1,179, a 22% jump in one week.

Robert W. Baird raised its target to $1,400 with an Outperform rating. Goldman Sachs reaffirmed its Buy and set a $1,328 target. Morgan Stanley lifted its target to $960 with an Overweight rating. The current consensus sits at a Moderate Buy with an average target of $1,077.

Institutions Are Moving In

On the institutional side, the picture is largely one of accumulation. Capital World Investors boosted its GEV position by 1,907.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources added 170%, while SG Americas raised its position by over 10,000%. Raymond James and Nordea also added meaningfully.

The one mover going the other way was the State of Michigan Retirement System, which trimmed its position by 3.5%, selling 2,600 units to end the quarter with 71,040 worth about $46.43 million.

With BNP’s downgrade factored in, 74% of analysts still rate GEV a Buy — comfortably above the 55–60% Buy-rating average across S&P 500 stocks.

The company’s 12-month low is $356.94. It hit a 12-month high of $1,181.95 last week. GEV carries a P/E ratio of 33.45 and a market cap of around $308.63 billion. A $0.50 quarterly dividend was paid on April 14th.

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