Honeywell (HON) declined in trading after the company’s FY24 sales outlook fell short of analysts’ expectations. Looking ahead, the aerospace and industrial automation company updated its FY24 outlook, projecting sales between $38.6 billion and $38.8 billion, with adjusted earnings likely to range from $10.15 to $10.25 per share. For reference, analysts expect adjusted earnings of $10.10 per share on revenues of $39.1 billion.
Honeywell Reported Better-than-Expected Q3 Results
The company reported adjusted earnings of $2.58 per share, an 8% increase year-over-year, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $2.51 per share.
Additionally, the company posted sales of $9.7 billion, up 6% year-over-year, though slightly below consensus estimates of $9.9 billion.
HON Simplified Its Business Portfolio
During the year, the company focused on simplifying its business portfolio by spinning off its Advanced Materials business, exiting its PPE business, and completing four strategic acquisitions.
Vimal Kapur, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell, commented, “We continue to see healthy order rates and sequential growth in our backlog, even excluding the impact of acquisitions closed in the quarter, giving us confidence in our ability to achieve our long-term targets. We also further advanced on our capital deployment strategy, deploying $3.1 billion to M&A, dividends, and high-return capex.”
Is HON Stock a Buy?
Analysts remain cautiously optimistic about HON stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on eight Buys and seven Holds. Over the past year, HON has increased by more than 15%, and the average HON price target of $228.14 implies an upside potential of 8.6% from current levels. These analyst ratings are likely to change following HON’s results today.