General Electric (NYSE:GE) Outperforms on Finance, Equipment Orders

General Electric (NYSE:GE) beat analysts' expectations in the fourth quarter, led by a strong performance in finance and growing equipment orders.

Earnings in the fourth quarter surge 31 percent to $3.9 billion, or 36 cents a share, a gain of 33 percent over last year in the same quarter.

For the year, revenue grew to $41.4 billion, a gain of 1 percent. That also beat expectations of a 4 percent drop in revenue to $39.9 billion analysts were looking for.

Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said, "GE ended 2010 with three consecutive quarters of strong earnings growth."

No specific guidance was given by Immelt, although he said on a conference call with investors that he sees earnings rising going forward, and the fourth quarter "was a good precursor for what we'll see in 2011."

General Electric was trading at $19.44, gaining $1.01, or 5.45 percent, as of 11:46 AM EST.