Leadership in Focus: Turning Fundamentals into Performance

Reclaiming Strength Through Leadership and Execution

Management teams matter. Across the corporate landscape, several legacy names long weighed down by misaligned leadership show that decisive management change remains a driver of value creation. The key is whether they’ve had success in the past and their proven strong execution. What we are witnessing now is a wave of revitalization driven by new management teams who have not only stabilized operations but are also redefining growth trajectories through sharper execution and strategic clarity. The combination of strong underlying businesses and leadership willing to make structural, and sometimes cultural, change is unlocking substantial shareholder value.

Restoring Confidence and Rebuilding Discipline

Boeing (BA) maintains a dominant duopoly market position, deep technological capacity, and a nearly 8-year-long $619 billion backlog. What faltered was execution, safety, and poor culture. Years of poor oversight, safety lapses, and public scrutiny surrounding manufacturing accidents eroded trust among regulators, customers, and investors. The company’s relationship with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) became strained, leading to stricter oversight, delivery suspensions, and production caps that further constrained profitability.

The new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, saw success during his prior leadership role at Rockwell Collins. From his introduction as Rockwell CEO up until its acquisition by UTC, Rockwell saw a total return of +107%. Before Kelly Ortberg’s position as CEO in August 2024, Boeing fell -50% from all-time highs in 2018.^[1] Ortberg’s leadership has prioritized rebuilding Boeing’s safety culture and stabilizing operations. FAA restrictions are now easing as the company regains confidence in its manufacturing standards. This shift in management to prioritize safety has succeeded, as the FAA recently raised Boeing’s production cap from 35 to 42 737 MAX planes per month.

Operationally, Boeing has improved under Ortberg as well. The Commercial Airplanes segment sales are up +81% year-over-year. Large new contracts, including Turkish Airlines’ 50-plane order and Norwegian Air’s 30-plane expansion, further strengthen Boeing’s demand pipeline. Analysts forecast positive free cash flow in 2026 and EPS near $12 by 2029. Boeing’s turnaround, seeing over +34% revenue growth since August 2024,^[2] demonstrates how leadership grounded in accountability can overcome even years of bad press and regulatory strain.

Boeing 737 Max Forecasted Deliveries Chart:^[3]

Cultural Renewal and Product-Led Growth

3M (MMM), an industry, worker safety, and consumer goods conglomerate, had a similar story through the appointment of CEO Bill Brown in May 2024. Bill joined the firm after presiding over L3 Harris, overseeing a +731% return during his 11-year tenure. He entered 3M in the midst of challenges stemming from years of overextension and prioritization. The company’s massive product portfolio became an agility obstacle. Legal liabilities and supply-chain disruptions further compounded the issue, diverting resources away from growth initiatives. Despite having the balance sheet, technology, and brand equity to outperform, 3M suffered from a lack of strategic focus that left its fundamentals underutilized. By the time of Brown’s appointment as CEO, the stock was down 38% since its high in early 2018 and was in desperate need of innovation and productivity.

Brown reoriented 3M towards higher product velocity, simplifying their supply chain, utilizing cross-selling tactics, and improving operational efficiencies. As a result, organic sales grew 3.2% in the third quarter, outpacing a modest macro backdrop. Operating margins expanded to +22.2%, and earnings guidance rose for the second consecutive quarter in a row, rising to $8.05 a share.^[4]  3M continues to show operational improvements as it reached its highest on-time performance in over 20 years, accelerated equipment effectiveness over 300 basis points year-over-year, and the quality of product improvement was driven by AI tools and automation tactics.

Unlocking Value Through Structural Simplicity

Perhaps the biggest success has been the appointment of Larry Culp as the CEO of GE in October 2018.  For years, General Electric (GE) fundamentals were restricted by a web of complexity and poor capital allocation decisions. When Larry Culp took over, GE had fallen by more than -60% from all-time highs. His response was to begin to improve the simplicity at the company, provide a stronger culture, and focus on structural reform, spinning off GE into three independent businesses: GE Aerospace, GE Vernova, and GE HealthCare. Culp created operational clarity and financial transparency where confusion once reigned. GE’s spinoff serves as one of the most successful corporate restructurings in recent history, seeing a +454% return for GE Aerospace since Larry Culp’s induction as CEO.

By allowing each unit to gain control over its own strategy, cost base, and capital priorities, Larry enabled accountability and operational efficiency that had long been absent under the old management model. This success has become apparent in the third quarter as operational performance has followed suit. Commercial & equipment services revenue climbed 25% year-over-year,[5] while defense orders advanced 24% year-over-year, supported by both higher unit volumes and improved pricing.

GE Spinoff Performance Chart:^[6]

Leadership Adaptability as a Catalyst

Companies like Broadcom (AVGO) and Vertiv (VRT) highlight that even with good fundamentals, the ability to recognize and pivot toward new structural trends is essential to convert stable operations into growth. Both companies showed robust performance this quarter as their management teams adapted quickly to the surging demand tied to artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure.

At Broadcom, president and CEO Hock Tan’s acquisition strategy and swift integration of VMware positioned the company at the center of virtualization enterprise computing. Tan has been a focal point of Broadcom winning multiple contracts to create custom ASIC chips for hyperscalers. In their recent earnings call, he stated that he will be staying as CEO of Broadcom through 2030 to see these contracts through, resulting in the stock rallying over 9% on the day because of his strong track record at the company in M&A, execution, and higher overall earnings and revenue growth. His focus on recurring software revenue, AI infrastructure, & custom ASICs has allowed Broadcom to lift gross margins above 78% percent and generate more than $19 billion in annual free cash flow.^[7]

Vertiv, under CEO Giordano Albertazzi, executed a similar pivot, repositioning itself as a competitor in the AI buildout. On top of the CEO, Vertiv appointed Dave Cote as executive chairman, having seen a +447% return during his 14 years at Honeywell. By focusing its operations on high-demand power and thermal management systems for data centers, margin expansion grew over 400 basis points in 2024. Additionally, revenue grew 30% year-over-year in their recent quarter, showing the payoff from pricing discipline and supply-chain control.^[8]

Early Stages of Leadership Transition

Both Nike (NKE) and Starbucks (SBUX) entered the quarter in the early stages of new leadership cycles, with Elliot Hill joining Nike in October 2024 and Brian Niccol joining Starbucks in September 2024. While both brands maintain dominant global positions and powerful consumer loyalty, their execution challenges have revealed how even market leaders must adapt to maintain relevance and reinvigorate growth.

At Nike, management is focused on improving inventory control, recalibrating its wholesale relationships, and reinvigorating consumer engagement after several quarters of sluggish product cycles. Starbucks, similarly, is refocusing on operational efficiency and customer experience after a period of overexpansion and margin compression. Both companies possess global reach, but their current challenge lies in translating that strength into consistent earnings growth. These will be companies worth watching in the next year to evaluate their strong leadership skills and whether they can weather the challenges. 

The market continues to reward structure over size, focus over diversification, and execution over narrative. It is important to recognize opportunity as industries depend less on macro tailwinds and lean more on leadership’s ability to make coherent and consistent business decisions.

Stephanie Link’s TV Schedule:

^[1] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

^[2] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

^[3] Forecast International, as of July 2025

^[4] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

^[5] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

^[6] FactSet, as of September 2025

^[7] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

^[8] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

Disclosures

Investment Solutions is a group comprised of investment professionals registered with Hightower Advisors, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser. Some investment professionals may also be registered with Hightower Securities, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC. Advisory services are offered through Hightower Advisors, LLC. Securities are offered through Hightower Securities, LLC. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities. No investment process is free of risk, and there is no guarantee that the investment process or the investment opportunities referenced herein will be profitable. Past performance is neither indicative nor a guarantee of future results. The investment opportunities referenced herein may not be suitable for all investors. All data or other information referenced herein is from sources believed to be reliable. Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices, or other data or information contained in this presentation is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice. Investment Solutions and Hightower Advisors, LLC or any of its affiliates make no representations or warranties express or implied as to the accuracy or completeness of the information or for statements or errors or omissions, or results obtained from the use of this information. Investment Solutions and Hightower Advisors, LLC assume no liability for any action made or taken in reliance on or relating in any way to this information The information is provided as of the date referenced in the document. Such data and other information are subject to change without notice. This document was created for informational purposes only; the opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s) and do not represent those of Hightower Advisors, LLC, or any of its affiliates.