Core Summary

  • GE HealthCare announced that, effective August 14, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller George Newcomb will serve as interim Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Jay Saccaro. The latter will leave the company to take a position outside the medical technology industry, according to Thursday's press release and securities filings.
  • The Chicago-based healthcare and medical technology provider also reported preliminary second-quarter results on Thursday, with revenue up 3.5% year-over-year, and reaffirmed its full-year guidance.
  • "On behalf of the Board of Directors and the management team, I want to thank Jay for his contributions over the past three years," said Peter Arduini, President and CEO of GE HealthCare, in a statement. "He played a key role in driving financial discipline and strategic investments aligned with our capital allocation strategy. We wish him success in his new endeavors."

In-Depth Analysis

Saccaro joined GE HealthCare in 2023, when the company was spun off from General Electric (GE). Prior to joining GE HealthCare, he served as Chief Financial Officer at Baxter International for nine years. GE HealthCare provides digital infrastructure and data analytics technology to healthcare providers.

GE HealthCare stated in the press release that Saccaro will collaborate with Newcomb to ensure a smooth transition. The company has initiated a search for a permanent Chief Financial Officer.

Interim successor Newcomb is a long-time company employee. According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, he has served as the corporate controller of GE HealthCare since February 2016. In 2023, with the spin-off of GE HealthCare from GE, he was appointed to his current role—Controller and Chief Accounting Officer of GE HealthCare.

Over his decades-long career, he has held several key financial leadership positions, including Chief Financial Officer of GE Capital Equipment Financing and GE Capital Healthcare Financial Services. Before joining GE in 1996, he served as a senior tax manager at Arthur Andersen.

GE HealthCare stated in the filing that Newcomb's compensation arrangements have not changed as a result of his role as interim finance chief. The company did not disclose details of Newcomb's compensation in its recent proxy statement.

As Chief Financial Officer, Saccaro's total compensation for 2025 was approximately $5 million, including a base salary of $890,415, non-equity incentive compensation of $909,000, and approximately $3 million in stock awards, according to the proxy statement filed on March 19.

The CFO change comes as the company navigates rising costs in key areas, including freight and critical product components. Arduini said on the first-quarter earnings call in April that input costs in certain areas had "changed significantly," impacting the company's profit guidance and cost mitigation strategies.

For example, GE HealthCare's costs for computer memory chips increased by approximately $100 million, as these chips are a "critical component" in many of its products. Arduini also noted that oil and freight expenses increased by approximately $100 million, and mentioned other inflationary impacts—such as costs related to metals like tungsten—expected to total approximately $50 million.

"We expect to offset more than half of the inflationary impact through pricing and cost measures in 2026," Arduini said, noting that the company is taking a "prudent approach" by lowering its full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance by 15 cents.

On Thursday, GE HealthCare reaffirmed its previously issued full-year guidance, which includes earnings per share between $4.80 and $5.00, according to its first-quarter earnings report. That range represents year-over-year growth of 4.6% to 9.0%.

Alongside the announcement of the CFO transition, the healthcare company also released preliminary unaudited second-quarter results on Thursday. For the quarter ended June 30, GE HealthCare expects organic revenue of approximately $5.1 billion, up 3.5% from the same period last year.

The company is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings on July 29, according to a press release.