Honeywell Extends Sales Streak on Aerospace, Automation Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Honeywell International Inc. is in a sweet spot for sales.

Its energy business is thriving on higher oil prices and the aerospace unit is getting a lift from a private-jet rebound. The company’s warehouse-automation products are also in high demand amid an e-commerce boom, propelling third-quarter sales beyond analysts’ estimates.

Key Insights

• Darius Adamczyk delivered again on one of his main promises after taking over as CEO last year: to rev up sales. Organic growth -- which strips out the impacts from acquisitions and foreign exchange -- was up 7 percent for the quarter and hasn’t dipped below 5 percent since the third quarter of 2017. Before that streak, the company hadn’t hit that level since 2014.
• Honeywell trimmed its forecast for 2018 earnings per share to $7.95 to $8, a potential disappointment to investors who have become accustomed to the CEO raising the forecast every quarter for the past year. The steadily improving outlook had been seen as proof that the company’s key markets – aerospace, energy and warehouse automation – were doing well. The company said the new guidance takes into account dilution from its spinoffs.
• The private-jet market is finally picking up, and Honeywell’s 10 percent jump in aerospace revenue reflects the rebound. Plane sales are set to strengthen in 2019, boosting suppliers such as Honeywell, which makes everything from jet engines to cockpit controls.

Market Reaction

• The shares rose 3.2 percent to $160.17 in New York premarket trading Friday. Honeywell had climbed 2.3 percent this year through Thursday, while the Standard & Poor’s Industrial Index fell 3.2 percent.

Get More

• Honeywell reported adjusted earnings of $2.03 a share, compared with an average estimate of $1.99.
• Company statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Black in Dallas at tblack@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Case at bcase4@bloomberg.net, Susan Warren, Tony Robinson

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