General Electric completed the spinoff of its healthcare division on Wednesday morning as GE HealthCare began trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker “GEHC” at $56 per share.
The stock gained 7.3% to $60.08 in morning trading. Shares of GE dropped 20%, reflecting the parent company’s shrunken size.
GE HealthCare CEO Peter Arduini praised the spinoff as a new chapter for the business as it follows a precision care strategy focused on analyzing patient data to provide more precise care.
In early December, GE’s board of directors approved the divestiture. GE distributed about 80% of outstanding shares of its healthcare business to GE shareholders, and retained a 20% stake in the firm. GE’s chairman and CEO, Larry Culp, will be non-executive chairman of GE HealthCare.
GE HealthCare generates about $18 billion in revenue per year. It includes GE’s imaging, ultrasound, patient care solutions and pharmaceutical diagnostics businesses. The firm has about 51,000 employees across more than 160 countries.
The company expects its business will grow by integrating patient data from imaging, lab, pathology, and genomics, and using AI to deliver insights for clinicians. GE HealthCare estimates its total addressable market will expand from $84 billion in 2021 to $102 billion by 2025.
