General Electric Co., doing business as GE Aerospace, is a global aerospace propulsion, services, and systems leader with an installed base of over 47,000 commercial and 28,000 military aircraft engines. The company supports efforts to revitalize domestic manufacturing. Its plans include a $1 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing and the hiring of 5,000 U.S. workers in 2026 for the second consecutive year. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, GE has about 57,000 employees. Its shares are a component of the S&P 500.

The major indices are higher at midday, as Wall Street seems to be shrugging off events in the Middle East and focusing on earnings. A revival of interest in recently beaten-down chips stocks is a major catalyst, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq up about 1.3%. Elsewhere, crude oil is up 2% at $84 per barrel, the yield on the 10-year note is at 4.62%, and the VIX Volatility Index is at 17.

GE Aerospace is the global leader in designing, manufacturing, and servicing commercial aircraft turbine engines, along with partner Safran in their CFM joint venture. With its massive global installed base of nearly 80,000 commercial and military engines, GE Aerospace earns most of its profits on recurring service revenue of that equipment, which operates for decades. GE Aerospace is the remaining core business of the company formed in 1892 with historical ties to American inventor Thomas Edison; General Electric became a storied conglomerate, with peak revenue of $130 billion in 2000, until it spun off its appliance, finance, healthcare, and wind and power businesses between 2016 and 2024.

Argus Research believes that Sustainable Impact investing is smart investing. We recently updated our Sustainable Growth Theme Model Portfolio and added just one company (Nasdaq Inc.). That might seem like a small number, but the list does turn over and the current list does look very different than it did a year ago. We dig deep when researching this theme, deploying multiple screens and analyzing many different metrics to give us confidence that the companies we select rightly deserve a spot on our roster. Companies committed to Sustainable Impact values reflect positive traits from management, and those often translate into better business. ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) investing has come a long way and continues to grow. According to the Global Sustainable Investment Association, global assets under management in ESG strategies were $30 trillion in 2022, up from $23 trillion in 2016. The discipline, originally known as Socially Responsible Investing, focused at first on excluding companies that conducted business in South Africa, or participated in industries such as tobacco, alcohol, and firearms. In time, the list of industries to avoid increased to include soft drinks, fast food, and oil and gas, among numerous others. But the performance of these initial strategies lagged. Now, instead of merely identifying industries to avoid, the discipline promotes "sustainable" business practices across industries that have an "impact" on global issues such as climate, hunger, poverty, disease, shelter, and workers' rights. At Argus, we track ESG progress at specific companies as part of our Management analysis (one of the points in our proprietary Six-Point Valuation System). In addition to reviewing and measuring the ESG proclamations from companies under coverage, we partner with an ESG research firm, JUST Capital, and leverage its analysis and insights. JUST Capital's mission is to drive measurable corporate change to create a stakeholder-centric form of capitalism that reflects the priorities of the American public. JUST utilizes a combination of data-driven research and strategic engagement in an attempt to shift norms and practices in corporate America and the financial markets. JUST ESG Custom Ratings rank stocks in the Russell 1000 on criteria using a scale of 1-100. Drawing on the JUST Capital rankings, we have compiled focused lists of companies followed by Argus Research that are in position to have this type of "sustainable impact" on the environment, workplace, community, and marketplace. These firms have exemplary records not only in delivering on the bottom line, but also in improving the environment, contributing to community relations, and showing respect for their employees. Here are some of the stocks that are currently held in the Argus Sustainable Growth Model Portfolio.