Honeywell (HON) posted stronger-than-expected first quarter earnings Friday, while narrowing the range of its full-year profit forecast, as the aerospace-focused engineering group looks to leverage the global rebound in air travel and aviation demand.
Honeywell said adjusted earnings for the three months ending in March were pegged at $1.91 per share down 1 penny from the same period last year but firmly ahead of the Street consensus forecast of $1.86 per share. Group revenues slipped 0.6% to $8.4 billion, compared to analysts' forecasts of an $8.3 billion tally.
Looking into the current financial year, Honeywell said it sees revenues of between $35.4 billion and $36.4 billion, organic sales growth of between 4% and 7% and adjusted earnings in the region of $8.50 to $8.80 per share, narrowing from its prior forecast of $8.40 to $8.70 per share.
"Honeywell delivered a strong start to 2022, meeting or exceeding expectations in the first quarter despite considerable new macroeconomic challenges and the ongoing impact of supply chain constraints," said CEO Darius Adamczyk. "Organic sales growth was underpinned by double-digit growth in our commercial aviation aftermarket, building products, productivity solutions and services, and advanced materials businesses."
"Demand remained strong, with orders up 13% year over year and long-cycle orders growth of over 20%, which will help drive growth as we progress through 2022," he added. "We also continued to leverage our strong balance sheet, deploying $2 billion of total capital in the quarter with $1 billion allocated to share repurchases as we executed on our updated commitment to buy back $4 billion in shares in 2022."
Honeywell shares were marked 2.7% higher in mid-day Friday trading following the earnings release to change hands at $195.00 each, trimming the stock's year-to-date decline to around 5.7%.
