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Honeywell profit boosted by aerospace, energy sales; shares rise
Honeywell International (HON) reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit Friday, which was boosted by stronger sales in its aerospace and energy businesses, sending its stock up.
The company posted earnings of $1.71 per share, while analysts were expecting $1.62.
The economic bellwether said sales in its aerospace business, Honeywell's largest segment, fell 4.3 percent to $3.55 billion during the quarter. But this was better than the 5 to 7 percent decline forecast by the company.
Honeywell shares closed over 2 percent higher on Friday.
Honeywell explained further that revenue from its aerospace unit — which manufactures engines for aircraft made by the likes of Bombardier, Textron and General Dynamics — was driven largely by growth in its commercial aftermarket, as well as gas turbo penetration in Europe and China.
Also on Friday, Honeywell raised the lower end of its full-year 2017 earnings guidance by 5 cents to $6.90 to $7.10 per share. Analysts had forecast 2017 earnings of $7.03 per share, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates.
"Our diversified portfolio, coupled with the investments we've made over the past several years, drove our excellent performance in the first quarter," Honeywell's CEO, Darius Adamczyk, said. "The commercial aftermarket within aerospace and the global distribution business within home and building technologies remained strong."
With Friday's gains, shares of Honeywell are up 10 percent for the year and have risen more than 11 percent over the past 12 months.
HON 12-month performance
Source: FactSet
— Reuters contributed to this report.
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