General Electric CEO John Flannery should be recognized for progress in turning around the global conglomerate, which had a rocky 2017 and saw its shares cut in half over the past 12 months, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Friday.
"They stopped using GE accounting and started using American accounting," said Cramer, who has previously expressed regret about investing in the company. GE adopted new accounting standards earlier this year.
"They look like other companies' accounting now, which is a delight," Cramer added. "Congratulations to John Flannery for adopting American accounting,.
GE's stock rose more than 6 percent midmorning Friday after the company reported first-quarter earnings of 16 cents per share, 5 cents above what analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting. The company also reported that total revenue rose 7 percent to $28.66 billion in the first quarter and reaffirmed its financial outlook for the year.
The "Mad Money" host was particularly impressed with the industrial conglomerate's strong performance in its aviation business, which saw double-digit profit growth. "Aviation is just so powerful that it is lifting all boats," Cramer told "Squawk on the Street."
Flannery, who previously was president and CEO of the GE Healthcare unit, unveiled a plan that the company would be "more focused," when he took over the helm the entire company after his predecessor, Jeff Immelt, retired last year.
Immelt, who served in various other leadership roles at GE, came under fire by critics for poor leadership decisions as CEO that left GE cash-strapped. On his way out the door, Immelt found himself defending the company's practice of having an empty business jet follow his corporate plane on several trips around the world.
"Flannery needs to be rewarded," Cramer said. "I've called him out when he's wrong. When he's done something good, you can't continue to say that he was wrong."
Cramer — whose charitable trust no longer owns the stock — said last year, "GE is one of the biggest mistakes of my career." When speculation about the company's dividend cut and some sort of restructuring were circulating in October, Cramer had said, "Rarely have I felt this stupid," while questioning what investors should do with the stock.