NEW YORK (AP) — General Electric's return to its roots as an industrial company continues to proceed unevenly.

The industrial and financial giant said on Friday that sales of industrial equipment - everything from wind turbines to jet engines to locomotives - lagged in the third quarter. Revenue of $35.9 billion was about $1.7 billion shy of Wall Street estimates and investors drove the stock down more than four percent.

GE has been de-emphasising its finance unit, GE Capital, which accounted for more than half of GE's profit in 2006 during a boom in financial services, but recorded billions in write-offs when the economy went into recession. So far the results are mixed. While GE has struggled to grow sales, its order book is showing signs of life.

CEO Jeffrey Immelt said both equipment and service orders increased for the first time in two years. That led him to forecast better results and increased dividends in 2011.

GE earned 29 cents per share, two cents above Wall Street estimates, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters. Shares fell 96 cents, or 5.6 percent.