Earnings Per Share Information

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

NOTE 13. EARNINGS PER SHARE INFORMATION

	Three months ended September 30
	2016				2015
(In millions; per-share amounts in dollars)	Diluted		Basic		Diluted		Basic

Amounts attributable to the Company:
Consolidated
Earnings from continuing operations for
per-share calculation(a)(b)	$	2,127	$	2,127	$	1,962	$	1,962
Preferred stock dividends		(33)		(33)		-		-
Earnings from continuing operations attributable to
common shareowners for per-share calculation(a)(b)	$	2,094	$	2,094	$	1,962	$	1,962
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations
for per-share calculation(a)(b)		(100)		(100)		540		540
Net earnings attributable to GE common
shareowners for per-share calculation(a)(b)	$	1,991	$	1,991	$	2,502	$	2,502

Average equivalent shares
Shares of GE common stock outstanding		8,904		8,904		10,103		10,103
Employee compensation-related shares (including
stock options)		112		-		70		-
Total average equivalent shares		9,016		8,904		10,173		10,103

Per-share amounts
Earnings from continuing operations	$	0.23	$	0.24	$	0.19	$	0.19
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations		(0.01)		(0.01)		0.05		0.05
Net earnings		0.22		0.22		0.25		0.25

	Nine months ended September 30
	2016				2015
(In millions; per-share amounts in dollars)	Diluted		Basic		Diluted		Basic

Amounts attributable to the Company:
Consolidated
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations for
per-share calculation(a)(b)	$	6,110	$	6,110	$	(913)	$	(913)
Preferred stock dividends		(474)		(474)		-		-
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations attributable to
common shareowners for per-share calculation(a)(b)	$	5,636	$	5,636	$	(913)	$	(913)
Loss from discontinued operations
for per-share calculation(a)(b)		(956)		(956)		(11,532)		(11,532)
Net earnings (loss) attributable to GE common
shareowners for per-share calculation(a)(b)	$	4,680	$	4,680	$	(12,436)	$	(12,436)

Average equivalent shares
Shares of GE common stock outstanding		9,096		9,096		10,085		10,085
Employee compensation-related shares (including
stock options)		105		-		-		-
Total average equivalent shares		9,201		9,096		10,085		10,085

Per-share amounts
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations	$	0.61	$	0.62	$	(0.09)	$	(0.09)
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations		(0.10)		(0.11)		(1.14)		(1.14)
Net earnings (loss)		0.51		0.51		(1.23)		(1.23)

Our unvested restricted stock unit awards that contain non-forfeitable rights to dividends or dividend equivalents are considered participating securities. For the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, participating securities are included in the computation of earnings (loss) per share pursuant to the two-class method and the application of this treatment had an insignificant effect. For the nine month period ended September 30, 2016, pursuant to the two-class method, as a result of the excess of dividends in current period earnings, losses were not allocated to the participating securities. For the nine month period ended September 30, 2015, pursuant to the two-class method, as a result of the net loss from continuing operations, losses were not allocated to the participating securities.
Included an insignificant amount of dividend equivalents in each of the periods presented.

For the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, approximately 15 million and 89 million, respectively, of outstanding stock awards were not included in the computation of diluted earnings (loss) per share because their effect was antidilutive. For the nine months ended September 30, 2016, approximately 24 million of outstanding stock awards were not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because their effect was antidilutive. As a result of the loss from continuing operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2015, outstanding stock awards of approximately 398 million, were not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because their effect was antidilutive.

In September 2016, we entered into an ASR agreement to repurchase shares of GE common stock. See Note 12 for additional information. The initial delivery of 71,189,280 shares resulted in an immediate reduction of the outstanding shares used to calculate the weighted-average common shares outstanding for basic and diluted earnings per share. GE has determined that the forward contract, indexed to its own common stock, met all the criteria for equity classification. There was no dilutive impact on earnings per share related to the forward contract.

Earnings per share amounts are computed independently, as a result, the sum of per-share amounts from continuing operations and discontinued operations may not equal the total per share amounts for net earnings (loss).