How GE HealthCare Makes its Money: Revenue Breakdown
A breakdown of GE HealthCare (GEHC) financials. See how GE HealthCare makes money from Imaging, Ultrasound, Patient Care Solutions, and more using their 2024 annual report.
How Does GE HealthCare Make its Money?
GE HealthCare Technologies is a global medical technology company that was spun off from General Electric in January 2023. The company is a leader in diagnostic imaging equipment (MRI, CT scanners, X-ray, ultrasound), patient monitoring systems, pharmaceutical diagnostics contrast agents, and digital health solutions. GE HealthCare serves over 1 million healthcare facilities globally and is investing heavily in AI-powered imaging and precision health — using artificial intelligence to help clinicians detect diseases earlier and more accurately.
GE HealthCare’s competitive advantage is its installed base — millions of imaging and monitoring devices in hospitals worldwide, each generating recurring revenue from service contracts, software upgrades, and consumables. When a hospital buys a $2-3 million MRI machine from GE HealthCare, it also signs multi-year service contracts for maintenance, calibration, and software updates. The installed base creates a predictable revenue stream and high switching costs: hospitals that have invested in GE HealthCare’s PACS systems (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems), trained radiologists on GE interfaces, and integrated GE equipment into their workflows face significant cost and disruption to switch to Siemens Healthineers or Philips.
GE HealthCare (GEHC) Business Model
GE HealthCare Competitors
GE HealthCare’s key competitors and comparable public companies in the medical devices sector include Abbott Laboratories, Stryker, Intuitive Surgical, and GE Aerospace. Each of these companies competes for market share, investor attention, and revenue in overlapping segments. See how GE HealthCare stacks up by comparing their revenue breakdown, margins, and growth metrics.
Revenue Breakdown
| Segment | 2024 | 2023 | YoY Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imaging | $10,400 | $10,200 | +2.0% |
| Ultrasound | $3,400 | $3,200 | +6.2% |
| Patient Care Solutions | $3,100 | $3,000 | +3.3% |
| Pharmaceutical Diagnostics | $2,300 | $2,200 | +4.5% |
| Total Revenue | $19,600 | $19,600 | +0.0% |
Imaging — 53% of Revenue
GE HealthCare’s core business, producing MRI machines, CT scanners, PET/CT systems, X-ray equipment, and molecular imaging devices. The company is a global leader (competing primarily with Siemens Healthineers and Philips) in each of these modalities. Revenue grew 2.0% in 2024, reflecting a recovery from pandemic-era order backlogs but slowed by weakness in China (where a government anti-corruption campaign paused hospital equipment purchasing for much of 2023-2024).
The Imaging segment is being transformed by AI. GE HealthCare has received more FDA clearances for AI-enabled medical devices than any other company — its AI algorithms help radiologists detect lung nodules in CT scans, cardiac abnormalities in echocardiograms, and neurological conditions in MRI images. These AI features are increasingly sold as software subscriptions layered on top of imaging hardware, creating a higher-margin recurring revenue stream.
Ultrasound — 17% of Revenue
Portable and fixed ultrasound systems used in obstetrics, cardiology, radiology, and point-of-care settings. Revenue grew 6.2% in 2024, the fastest segment growth, driven by new product launches and growing adoption of handheld ultrasound devices that allow physicians to perform imaging at the bedside rather than sending patients to radiology departments. The Vscan handheld ultrasound represents the future of the category — a pocket-sized device that uses AI to guide image acquisition and interpretation.
Ultrasound is a strategically important growth segment because it’s expanding beyond traditional use cases. AI-enabled handheld ultrasound could eventually be as common as a stethoscope — used by emergency room doctors, primary care physicians, and paramedics for rapid on-the-spot diagnostics.
Patient Care Solutions — 16% of Revenue
Patient monitoring systems (bedside monitors, telemetry, central stations), anesthesia delivery equipment, and respiratory care devices. Revenue grew 3.3% in 2024. This segment provides the equipment hospitals use to continuously monitor patients’ vital signs during surgery, in intensive care units, and on general wards. GE HealthCare has a strong installed base in large hospital systems, and the pandemic highlighted the critical importance of robust patient monitoring infrastructure.
Pharmaceutical Diagnostics — 12% of Revenue
Contrast agents and molecular imaging agents used during CT scans, MRI procedures, and nuclear medicine imaging. These drug products (like Omnipaque for CT contrast and Dotarem for MRI contrast) are injected into patients to enhance image clarity and diagnostic accuracy. Revenue grew 4.5% in 2024. This is a high-margin, recurring revenue business — every time a CT or MRI is performed with contrast, the hospital purchases a dose of contrast agent. Growth tracks procedure volumes rather than equipment cycles.
GE HealthCare (GEHC) Income Statement
| Metric | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | $19,600 | $19,600 |
| Cost of Revenue | $10,700 | $10,800 |
| Gross Profit | $8,900 | $8,800 |
| Operating Expenses | $5,600 | $5,700 |
| Operating Income | $3,300 | $3,100 |
| Net Income | $2,100 | $1,800 |
All values in millions USD unless otherwise stated.
Financial data sourced from GE HealthCare SEC Filings.
GE HealthCare (GEHC) Key Financial Metrics
- Gross Margin: 45.4%
- Operating Margin: 16.8%
- Revenue Growth: 0.0%
Is GE HealthCare Profitable?
Yes, GE HealthCare is profitable and margins are improving as the company operates independently from GE. The 45.4% gross margin is solid for a medical device company that sells both high-value equipment and recurring consumables/services. The 16.8% operating margin expanded from 15.8% the prior year as the company continued to optimize its cost structure post-spinoff (eliminating GE corporate overhead, streamlining operations, and pursuing procurement savings). Net income grew 16.7% to $2.1 billion despite flat revenue, demonstrating the margin expansion story. The flat revenue is somewhat misleading — China weakness (anti-corruption campaign freezing hospital procurement) masked underlying growth in the Americas and Europe. Management has set a target of 20%+ adjusted operating margins over time, suggesting significant further expansion from the current 16.8% as standalone efficiencies are realized.
GE HealthCare (GEHC): What to Watch
- AI product monetization — GE HealthCare has the most FDA-cleared AI algorithms in medical imaging. The key question is whether hospitals will pay meaningful subscription fees for AI features or view them as expected upgrades bundled with equipment purchases.
- China recovery — China represents a significant market for medical imaging equipment, and the government’s anti-corruption campaign caused a sharp procurement pause. Recovery in Chinese ordering activity would reignite the Imaging segment’s growth rate.
- Margin expansion trajectory — The path from 16.8% to 20%+ operating margin is a key value creation lever. Progress on standalone cost optimization, procurement savings, and software/service revenue mix will drive this expansion.
- Theranostics opportunity — The convergence of diagnostics and therapeutics (using imaging to identify patients for targeted treatments) is an emerging growth opportunity. GE HealthCare’s molecular imaging and pharmaceutical diagnostics capabilities position it well for this trend.
- Ultrasound and point-of-care expansion — Handheld, AI-enabled ultrasound represents a new market that could significantly expand the addressable opportunity beyond traditional hospital imaging departments.
GE HealthCare (GEHC) Financial Summary
GE HealthCare is a global medical technology leader, spun off from GE in 2023, operating across diagnostic imaging (53% of revenue), ultrasound (17%), patient care solutions (16%), and pharmaceutical diagnostics (12%). Revenue was flat at $19.6 billion in 2024 as China weakness offset growth elsewhere, but the story is margin expansion — operating margin improved to 16.8% (targeting 20%+) as standalone efficiencies reduced costs, and net income grew 16.7% to $2.1 billion. GE HealthCare has more FDA-cleared AI medical imaging algorithms than any competitor, positioning it to monetize AI-assisted diagnostics through software subscriptions layered on its massive installed base of imaging equipment in hospitals worldwide.
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