Honeywell forecasts tepid annual sales on industrial automation weakness

(Reuters) – Honeywell (NASDAQ:) forecast annual sales below Wall Street estimates on Thursday after weakness in its industrial automation business led to lower-than-expected quarterly sales, sending its shares down 3% before the bell.

The industrial giant now expects 2024 sales between $38.6 billion and $38.8 billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $39.20 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Honeywell’s industrial automation segment, which helps factories and plants automate their manufacturing processes, reported a 5% decline in organic sales for the third quarter, mainly due to soft demand from warehouses.

Supply chain shortages and inflationary pressures also remained a headwind.

The company’s aviation business, however, continued to benefit from booming demand for aircraft parts, with the division registering a sales increase of 10% on an organic basis.

Honeywell posted quarterly adjusted profit per share of $2.58, higher than expectations of $2.50.

That was despite an impairment charge related to classifying the personal protective equipment (PPE) business as assets held for sale.

Its total sales for the quarter ended Sept. 30 rose about 5.6% to $9.73 billion, but fell short of estimates of $9.90 billion.