Shares of GE Aerospace were soaring toward levels not seen in nearly two decades after the maker of engines used by airlines and the military provided an upbeat earnings outlook for 2025 and said it was going to buy back more stock and boost its dividend by 30%.

GE Aerospace was long considered one of the crown jewels inside of the General Electric conglomerate. Now independent, the company is demonstrating to investors what it is capable of. GE earned $1.32 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $10.8 billion, easily surpassing Wall Street's consensus $1.04 per share on $9.5 billion estimates.