General Electric reported quarterly results on Wednesday that illustrated how far it has fallen, and the steep hill the company — once a titan of American industry — must climb to turn itself around.

There were no big surprises; those had mostly come earlier.

But in a conference call with analysts, G.E. disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission had opened an investigation into the company’s handling of its insurance obligations and how it accounted for certain services contracts. The inquiry was in its “very early stages” and G.E. was “cooperating fully,” said Jamie Miller, the company’s chief financial officer.

Last week, G.E. made a startling announcement that it would take a $6.2 billion charge in the fourth quarter, and set aside $15 billion over seven years to pay for obligations held by its finance unit, mainly on long-term care insurance policies.

Last fall, shortly after taking over as chief executive, John Flannery told investors that G.E.’s big electricity-generation division had badly misjudged the market and produced too many power turbines, warning that it would take a year or more to fix the business.