GE HealthCare Technologies

NASDAQ: GEHC · USD

GE HealthCare Technologies (GEHC) Economic Moat Analysis—

Competitive advantages, dated evidence and erosion risks.

Uncertain economic moat

GE HealthCare demonstrates recurring service demand, multiyear customer commitments and realized price increases, particularly in services. These support commercial strength but do not establish durable switching costs or another defensible structural advantage. China competition and procurement policies have already affected orders and revenue, while first-half 2026 margin performance was mixed. The evidence supports limited pricing power and an uncertain moat, rather than an established absence of a moat.

Changes since the previous analysis

Retains the previous uncertain moat verdict: the supplied evidence still does not establish durable structural superiority.
Adds explicit consideration of substantive cancellation penalties and multiyear service obligations as evidence of customer commitments, without treating them as proof of renewal or switching costs.
Adds graded pricing and management assessments using disclosed operating outcomes, actual compensation arrangements and governance practices.

Evidence limitations

The passages identify generic competitor categories but no named operating competitors. Competitor-specific differentiation, market shares and relative costs remain unestablished.
The installed-base disclosure concerns 2023; it does not quantify the current installed base or demonstrate current customer lock-in.
Diagnostic-agent infrastructure and supply reliability indicate operational complexity and customer importance, but do not establish a GE HealthCare-specific cost advantage, scarce capacity or protected market position.
Service revenue growth and contractual commitments provide indirect retention evidence. Renewal rates, service attachment, customer-level repeat purchases and replacement-cycle retention are absent.
Pricing explanations are issuer disclosures without quantified price changes or customer-level elasticity evidence. Tariff refunds and volume also affected profitability.
AI, digital integration, localization and acquisition synergies remain potential sources of advantage where the passages provide strategy or expectations rather than demonstrated competitive outcomes.
A switching-cost thesis would be weakened by sustained service customer losses, deteriorating renewals or customers replacing systems without meaningful disruption or penalty. The supplied passages do not measure these outcomes.
A durable pricing-power thesis would be invalidated by persistent price concessions, price-driven customer losses or sustained inability to offset ordinary cost inflation. China procurement impacts already show localized erosion, without establishing companywide competitive failure.
Governance and compensation assessments reflect actual arrangements disclosed in the March 19, 2026 filed proxy, not assumed approval of May meeting proposals. Subsequent board-election outcomes and individual ownership quantities are not supplied.
All sources are issuer filings; their supplied dates retain dateKind filed. Accounting useful lives, reported margins and management descriptions alone do not establish moat duration.

Financial indicators to test against the thesis

Calculated from annual filings. Missing data remains unavailable. Detailed financial charts remain in the other topics.

Financial indicators to test against the thesis
Period	Gross margin	Operating margin	ROIC	FCF margin
2023	40.5%	12.5%	—	8.8%
2024	41.7%	13.3%	13.4%	7.9%
2025	40.0%	13.4%	13.3%	7.3%

Pricing power50

Pricing outcomes
Actual service price increases contributed to results in both first-quarter and first-half 2026 disclosures; second-quarter AIS results also benefited from price. This demonstrates pricing ability over a limited period, without proving exceptional durability or unconstrained companywide pricing.
Customer demand
Service sales increased to $3,664 million from $3,404 million in first-half comparisons, alongside maintenance contracts and service obligations extending up to five years. These are indirect indicators of continuing demand, not measured renewals; price and acquisitions can also influence revenue.
Margin resilience
Service pricing helped absorb inflation, but first-quarter service costs rose relative to sales and first-half adjusted EBIT margin declined 90 basis points. Second-quarter improvement also benefited from tariff refunds. Outcomes show partial, uneven protection.
Pricing freedom
Competitive tenders constrain terms and some government customers have termination-for-convenience rights. Substantive cancellation penalties protect qualifying committed obligations, but no broad unilateral repricing or escalation rights are disclosed.

Management63

Capital discipline
2025 bonus-plan free cash flow was $1,505 million against a $1,660 million target. First-half 2026 included $2,293 million of acquisition spending, $278 million of capital investment and $300 million of repurchases; cash declined substantially while net borrowing increased. Capital deployment is demonstrable, but acquisition returns remain unproven.
Incentive alignment
Actual 2025 equity awards were half PSUs, with multiyear performance and vesting arrangements. Ownership compliance, clawback provisions and hedging restrictions are disclosed, and an actual 95% PSU payout demonstrates performance-conditioned outcomes. This supports strong alignment without proving exceptional incentive effectiveness.
Execution
Reported 2025 revenue growth and 2026 AIS improvement demonstrate progress, but 2025 adjusted EBIT and cash flow missed bonus targets, first-half 2026 operating income declined, and PCS moved into losses. Resolution of the PDx supplier issue is positive. Execution is assessed from operating outcomes rather than management praise.
Governance
Disclosed practices include independent committees, majority voting, annual director elections, no dual-class shares or poison pill, and shareholder meeting rights. These support strong formal governance. Nominee independence is not treated as evidence of subsequent election, and long-term oversight effectiveness is not established.

Sources and methodology

Current publication · Updated 18/10/2026 · Version 4

AI interpretation based on checked source excerpts. Issuer assertions and evidence limitations remain explicit.

Policy quality-scores-2: six equally weighted categories. The overall score requires full coverage. Missing inputs are not zero. Qualitative grades are sourced interpretations, not probabilities. 3/6 · 18/10/2026

Moat—

Insufficient evidence for every rubric criterion; no category score is inferred.

structural advantage · — · An installed base, service operations and complex diagnostic-agent infrastructure are established, but their defensibility relative to rivals is not.

durability · — · Multiyear service obligations support visibility within existing contracts; they do not establish persistence of a competitive advantage across replacement and renewal cycles.

customer dependency · — · Maintenance demand and reliable diagnostic supply matter to customers, but dependence on GE HealthCare specifically and the economic burden of switching are unquantified.

erosion resilience · — · China competition has affected orders and revenue, while services show pricing gains. The evidence cannot establish resilience of an identified structural moat.

Pricing power50

Equal-weight average of four evidence-backed rubric grades (0–4), scaled to 100.

realized pricing · 3/4 · Actual service price increases contributed to results in both first-quarter and first-half 2026 disclosures; second-quarter AIS results also benefited from price. This demonstrates pricing ability over a limited period, without proving exceptional durability or unconstrained companywide pricing.

retention · 2/4 · Service sales increased to $3,664 million from $3,404 million in first-half comparisons, alongside maintenance contracts and service obligations extending up to five years. These are indirect indicators of continuing demand, not measured renewals; price and acquisitions can also influence revenue.

margin resilience · 2/4 · Service pricing helped absorb inflation, but first-quarter service costs rose relative to sales and first-half adjusted EBIT margin declined 90 basis points. Second-quarter improvement also benefited from tariff refunds. Outcomes show partial, uneven protection.

contractual freedom · 1/4 · Competitive tenders constrain terms and some government customers have termination-for-convenience rights. Substantive cancellation penalties protect qualifying committed obligations, but no broad unilateral repricing or escalation rights are disclosed.

Predictability—

Five consecutive annual periods are required for predictability; the accepted history is incomplete.

Financial strength42

Equal-weight grades: debt/FCF (1–8x), net debt/earnings before interest and tax (0–5x), interest service (1–12x), current ratio (0.75–2x). Earnings use reported operating income, or reported pretax profit plus reported interest expense when operating income is unavailable. Interest service uses earnings/interest expense; if unavailable, it uses reported operating cash flow/cash interest paid, without relabeling cash paid as accrued expense. Nonpositive cash flow/earnings score 0 for their service component; reported zero interest with a positive numerator scores 100. Net cash scores 100 for net leverage. Missing disclosures remain unavailable. General nonfinancial-company rubric, not a credit rating; exceptional and nonoperating gains are not normalized out. IFRS finance-cost and cash-flow classifications retain their reported scope.

debtFcfGrade: 14.57
netDebtEbitGrade: 56.47
interestCoverageGrade: 48.00
currentRatioGrade: 49.84
Debt / FCF (x): 6.98
Net debt / operating income (x): 2.18
Interest coverage (x): 6.28
Current ratio (x): 1.37

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

Capital allocation—

Missing required inputs: operatingReturn, dilution. Three-year equal-weight indicators: pretax return on average invested capital (0–25%; equity + debt − cash, each year and its prior year), share-count growth (0–5%, lower better), share-based cost/revenue (2–20%, lower better), consolidated FCF/net income (0–1x). Return uses reported operating income or, if unavailable, EBIT calculated from reported pretax profit plus reported interest expense; exceptional/nonoperating gains are not normalized out. Share-based cost uses the reported cash-flow add-back or, if absent, separately reported recognized compensation expense; the latter never becomes an FCF adjustment. Nonpositive net income scores 0 for cash conversion; absent income/FCF stays unavailable. Nonpositive invested capital has no defined return and remains unavailable. Does not establish acquisition quality or buyback timing.

3-year average SBC / revenue (%): 0.62
cashConversionGrade: 84.55

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

Management63

Equal-weight average of four evidence-backed rubric grades (0–4), scaled to 100.

capital discipline · 2/4 · 2025 bonus-plan free cash flow was $1,505 million against a $1,660 million target. First-half 2026 included $2,293 million of acquisition spending, $278 million of capital investment and $300 million of repurchases; cash declined substantially while net borrowing increased. Capital deployment is demonstrable, but acquisition returns remain unproven.

incentive alignment · 3/4 · Actual 2025 equity awards were half PSUs, with multiyear performance and vesting arrangements. Ownership compliance, clawback provisions and hedging restrictions are disclosed, and an actual 95% PSU payout demonstrates performance-conditioned outcomes. This supports strong alignment without proving exceptional incentive effectiveness.

execution · 2/4 · Reported 2025 revenue growth and 2026 AIS improvement demonstrate progress, but 2025 adjusted EBIT and cash flow missed bonus targets, first-half 2026 operating income declined, and PCS moved into losses. Resolution of the PDx supplier issue is positive. Execution is assessed from operating outcomes rather than management praise.

governance · 3/4 · Disclosed practices include independent committees, majority voting, annual director elections, no dual-class shares or poison pill, and shareholder meeting rights. These support strong formal governance. Nominee independence is not treated as evidence of subsequent election, and long-term oversight effectiveness is not established.

Evidence

We have a large, global installed base of medical imaging, ultrasound, and patient monitoring systems.
Business: global installed base · Filed 06/02/2024

We recognize revenue from the sale of certain service contracts, including preventative maintenance, corrective services, and extended warranties over time on a ratable basis consistent with the nature, timing, and extent of our services, which primarily relate to routine maintenance and as-needed product repairs.
Revenue recognition: maintenance, repair and warranty service contracts · Filed 04/02/2026

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited) For the three months ended June 30 For the six months ended June 30 (In millions, except per share amounts) 2026 2025 2026 2025 Sales of products $ 3,416 $ 3,263 $ 6,762 $ 6,380 Sales of services 1,878 1,743 3,664 3,404 Total revenues 5,295 5,007 10,425 9,784 Cost of products 2,217 2,160 4,500 4,122 Cost of services 898 863 1,769 1,665 Gross profit 2,180 1,985 4,157 3,997 Selling, general, and administrative 1,118 1,029 2,235 2,069 Research and development 323 302 668 646 Total operating expenses 1,441 1,331 2,903 2,714 Operating income 739 654 1,254 1,283 Interest and other financial charges – net 114 113 210 224 Non-operating benefit (income) costs (45) (73) (96) (148) Other (income) expense – net (22) 1 (58) (98) Income before income taxes 693 613 1,198 1,304 Benefit (provision) for income taxes (119) (113) (213) (216) Net income 573 500 985 1,088 Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests (13) (14) (35) (39) Net income attributable to GE HealthCare $ 561 $ 486 $ 950 $ 1,049 Earnings per share attributable to GE HealthCare: Basic $ 1.24 $ 1.06 $ 2.09 $ 2.30 Diluted 1.24 1.06 2.08 2.29 Weighted-average number of shares outstanding: Basic 453 457 454 457 Diluted 454 458 456 459 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
Unaudited income statements: second-quarter and first-half 2026 results · Filed 29/07/2026

Remaining performance obligations (“RPO”) represents the estimated revenue expected from customer contracts that are partially or fully unperformed inclusive of amounts deferred in contract liabilities, excluding contracts, or portions thereof, that provide the customer with the right to cancel or terminate without incurring a substantive penalty.
Revenue recognition: substantive cancellation penalties in RPO definition · Filed 29/07/2026

We expect to recognize substantially all of the revenue for our product-related RPO within two years and services-related RPO within five years.
Revenue recognition: expected product and service RPO recognition periods · Filed 29/07/2026

The decrease as a percent of sales was driven by an increase in the pricing of our service offerings and tariff refunds, partially offset by cost inflation.
MD&A: second-quarter service pricing, tariff refunds and inflation · Filed 29/07/2026

The decrease as a percent of sales was largely driven by an increase in pricing of our service offerings, partially offset by cost inflation, with tariff refunds offsetting the incremental year-over-year tariff expense.
MD&A: first-half service pricing and cost performance · Filed 29/07/2026

The increase as a percent of sales was largely driven by unfavorable mix within our service offerings and cost inflation, including the impact of incremental tariffs, partially offset by an increase in pricing of our service offerings.
MD&A: first-quarter service mix, inflation, tariffs and pricing · Filed 29/04/2026

Adjusted EBIT* and Adjusted EBIT margin* were $1,440 million and 13.8%, a decrease of $3 million and 90 basis points, respectively, primarily due to a decrease in operating income, as discussed above.
MD&A: first-half adjusted EBIT and margin decline · Filed 29/07/2026

However, we continue to monitor developments in the China market, including increased competition from local companies and the prevalence of volume based procurement policies, both of which have impacted our orders and revenues and may continue to do so.
China market: realized competitive and procurement impacts · Filed 29/07/2026

Many of our products have lengthy sales and purchase order cycles or are subject to competitive bidding or public tender processes.
Risk factors: competitive bidding and public tenders · Filed 04/02/2026

federal government, can terminate contracts for their convenience or for our default.
Risk factors: government contractual termination rights · Filed 04/02/2026

Diagnostic agents require a sophisticated supply chain for manufacturing, supported by a global infrastructure of commercial, marketing, medical affairs, market access, application, regulatory, and pharmacovigilance teams that help monitor products.
Business: diagnostic-agent manufacturing and supporting infrastructure · Filed 04/02/2026

Customers require timely and reliable supply of diagnostic agents as shortages or delays can be highly disruptive to workflows and even cause exam cancellations.
Business: diagnostic-agent supply reliability and customer workflows · Filed 04/02/2026

GE HealthCare Bonus Plan Financial Performance Metrics(1) Weight Threshold (50% Payout) Target (100% Payout) Max (200% Payout) Actual Bonus Performance Metric Payout NPI Vitality % Modifier (+/- 5%) Serious I & I Modifier (+/- 5%) Bonus Payout Organic revenue ($M) 50 % $ 18,560 $ 19,957 $ 21,354 $ 20,173 115 % +5% (5 %) 101 % Adjusted EBIT ($M) 30 % $ 2,750 $ 3,235 $ 3,720 $ 3,150 (2) 91 % Free cash flow ($M) 20 % $ 1,245 $ 1,660 $ 1,992 $ 1,505 81 % (1)All metrics are non-GAAP financial measures.
Compensation: actual 2025 financial performance against bonus targets · Filed 19/03/2026

Investing Activities Cash used for investing activities in the six months ended June 30, 2026 was $2,615 million and primarily included purchases of businesses, net of cash acquired, of $2,293 million related to the acquisition of Intelerad and Additions to PP&E and internal-use software of $278 million related mostly to investments in facilities, including manufacturing capacity expansion, and new product introductions.
Liquidity: acquisition spending and capital investment · Filed 29/07/2026

Financing Activities Cash used for financing activities in the six months ended June 30, 2026 was $215 million and primarily included $300 million for repurchases of common stock, partially offset by a net increase in borrowings of $150 million.
Liquidity: actual repurchases and net borrowing · Filed 29/07/2026

5 Table of Contents Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position (Unaudited) As of (In millions, except share and per share amounts) June 30, 2026 December 31, 2025 Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash $ 2,105 $ 4,512 Receivables – net of allowances of $102 and $103 3,881 3,955 Inventories 2,483 2,234 Contract and other deferred assets 1,235 1,073 All other current assets 793 726 Current assets 10,497 12,501 Property, plant, and equipment – net 3,146 3,092 Goodwill 15,095 13,489 Other intangible assets – net 1,894 1,130 Deferred income taxes 4,359 4,491 All other non-current assets 2,254 2,205 Total assets $ 37,246 $ 36,906 Short-term borrowings $ 2 $ 508 Accounts payable 3,231 3,250 Contract liabilities 2,200 2,095 Current compensation and benefits 1,439 1,666 All other current liabilities 1,429 1,587 Current liabilities 8,302 9,105 Long-term borrowings 10,091 9,495 Non-current compensation and benefits 5,186 5,453 Deferred income taxes 315 193 All other non-current liabilities 2,133 2,061 Total liabilities 26,027 26,307 Commitments and contingencies Redeemable noncontrolling interests 229 209 Common stock, par value $0.01 per share, 1,000,000,000 shares authorized, 459,470,464 shares issued as of June 30, 2026; 458,844,209 shares issued as of December 31, 2025 5 5 Treasury stock, at cost, 7,785,199 shares as of June 30, 2026 and 3,107,626 shares as of December 31, 2025 (525) (225) Additional paid-in capital 6,776 6,707 Retained earnings 6,199 5,281 Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) – net (1,480) (1,388) Total equity attributable to GE HealthCare 10,975 10,379 Noncontrolling interests 14 11 Total equity 10,989 10,390 Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interests, and equity $ 37,246 $ 36,906 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
Unaudited balance sheet: cash, borrowings, goodwill and treasury stock · Filed 29/07/2026

As illustrated below, in 2025, once the total annual LTI award amount for each NEO was determined by the Compensation Committee, 50% was granted in PSUs, 25% in Options, and 25% in RSUs.
Compensation: actual 2025 long-term award mix · Filed 19/03/2026

Vehicle Mix and PSU Calculation 50% PSUs three-year performance period and cliff vesting + 25% Options 1/3 vesting 18/30/42 months from grant + 25% RSUs 1/3 vesting 18/30/42 months from grant Organic revenue (50%) + Cumulative Adjusted EPS (50%) X Relative TSR Modifier vs.
Compensation: award vesting periods and PSU financial metrics · Filed 19/03/2026

What We Do What We Don’t Do Pay-for-performance through emphasis on at-risk, performance-based compensation programs Set rigorous annual bonus and long-term PSU goals tied to Board-approved budget and strategic objectives Align executive and stockholder interests by providing a majority of total target compensation in long-term incentives for our NEOs Maintain robust stock ownership and retention requirements for our directors and executive officers, including a 6x base salary requirement for our CEO Conduct proactive and ongoing stockholder outreach Mitigate undue risk-taking by conducting annual risk assessments and capping potential incentive plan payouts Maintain a robust clawback policy that authorizes recoupment of both time- and performance-based awards in the event of misconduct, including outside the context of a financial restatement Retain a fully independent executive compensation consultant whose independence is reviewed annually by the Compensation Committee Maintain equity grant practices designed to avoid grants right before or at the time of release of material non-public information, including through the use of pre-established grant dates Hold annual stockholder say-on-pay advisory vote Conduct an annual review of the compensation and practices of a compensation peer group No hedging of Company securities by employees or directors No pledging of Company securities by employees or directors No re-pricing of Options without stockholder approval No “single trigger” cash severance or equity acceleration based solely upon a change in control No excise tax gross-ups for change in control and severance payments No payouts of dividend equivalents on equity awards during vesting or performance periods No excessive perquisites GE HEALTHCARE 2026 PROXY STATEMENT 33 Compensation Summary of 2025 Compensation Program Elements The table below sets forth the primary elements of the 2025 GE HealthCare executive compensation program framework.
Compensation: adopted ownership, clawback and risk-control practices · Filed 19/03/2026

All of our NEOs are in compliance with our stock ownership requirements.
Compensation: actual executive ownership-requirement compliance · Filed 19/03/2026

•2023 PSU Payout. Mr. Saccaro’s 2023 PSUs paid out at 95% of the target number of shares, as described under “2023 Annual PSUs” beginning on page 41.
Compensation: actual CFO 2023 PSU payout · Filed 19/03/2026

Key Corporate Governance Practices •Majority of independent directors, with a goal of at least two-thirds independent; 7 out of 8 director nominees are independent •Annual election of all directors by majority vote •No supermajority provisions in governing documents •Strong lead director with clearly delineated duties •Lead director oversees the Board’s periodic review of its leadership structure •Annual Board and committee self-evaluations •Board-level oversight of AI strategy and sustainability matters •Board refreshment mechanism (term limit of 15 years) •Regular executive sessions of independent directors •Board and committees may hire outside advisors independent of management •Clawback policy that applies to all cash and equity incentive awards •Prohibitions against hedging and pledging •Robust stock ownership and retention requirements •Limits on director outside board commitments (“overboarding”) •No poison pill or dual-class shares •Stockholder right to call special meetings at 25% •Proxy access provisions 6 GE HEALTHCARE 2026 PROXY STATEMENT Corporate Governance Management Proposal No.
Governance: shareholder rights and board practices · Filed 19/03/2026

The Board has determined that all members of the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee, and the Governance Committee are independent and also satisfy applicable committee-specific independence requirements.
Governance: actual committee independence determinations · Filed 19/03/2026

A summary of our 2025 financial performance is set forth below: •Revenues were $20.6 billion and Organic revenue* was $20.4 billion; Revenues increased 4.8% year-over-year and 3.5% on an Organic* basis.
Compensation discussion: reported 2025 revenue growth · Filed 19/03/2026

Segment EBIT For the three months ended June 30 For the six months ended June 30 2026 % of segment revenues 2025 % of segment revenues % change 2026 % of segment revenues 2025 % of segment revenues % change AIS $ 525 13.9 % $ 455 13.0 % 15.4 % $ 1,004 13.5 % $ 914 13.3 % 9.8 % PDx 250 29.6 % 213 29.3 % 16.9 % 446 27.7 % 418 30.7 % 6.7 % PCS (26) (3.8) % 60 7.7 % (143.0) % (16) (1.2) % 108 7.0 % (114.8) % ____________________ *Non-GAAP Financial Measure 37 Table of Contents For the three months ended June 30, 2026 •AIS Segment EBIT was $525 million, an increase of $70 million due to a growth in sales volume and an increase in price, partially offset by cost inflation.
Segment results: AIS improvement, PDx margin compression and PCS losses · Filed 29/07/2026

The increase as a percent of sales was largely driven by cost inflation, investment in design follow-through, and a now resolved PDx supplier issue, partially offset by tariff refunds.
MD&A: first-half product costs and resolved PDx supplier issue · Filed 29/07/2026

Publication history

Publication history
Version	Updated	Competitive advantage
4	18/10/2026	uncertain
3	18/10/2026	uncertain
2	18/10/2026	uncertain
1	18/10/2026	Unavailable

Sources

Research methodology and limitations · What is an economic moat?