2017 has not been kind to shareholders of General Electric (NYSE: GE) stock. As of this writing, shares are down more than 25%. This is while the Dow Jones has been hitting all-times highs throughout the year.

So what gives? Why are investors punishing General Electric? To fully understand the scope of the issues with General Electric, we have to go all the way back to before the housing recession hit US Stocks. This will allow us to see why this stock is lagging now and will help us to better understand where the stock may be headed in the coming years.

Where General Electric Went Wrong

Back in the booming early 2000’s, General Electric made a costly mistake. They allowed their finance unit to grow in size so that it was the main driver of earnings and revenues. With easy money as housing prices skyrocketed, all looked good.

But then housing prices stopped rising and started dropping. Stocks took a hit and this included General Electric. In fact, GE was one of the hardest hit non-financial stocks at the time.

To get the company and stock price moving again, General Electric started to sell off some units and slashed its dividend.

Shareholders, while not loving the slashed dividend, did enjoy a modest recovery of the stock price. GE looked to be one its way to being the old reliable stock it once was.

But then 2017 hit.

Where General Electric Stands Today

The restructuring of the company is now complete and GE is left with 6 core business units:

The sixth unit is the finance unit. With the restructuring, this unit is now the lender for the other 5 business units. This is in stark contrast of when the finance unit was there to earn income from credit cards and other outside facing financial transactions.

Even though the restructuring is complete, all is not well for General Electric in the short term. These business units are still adjusting to the economic climate we are in. As these adjustments are made, there will be one-time expenses that hit the bottom line.