Honeywell Delivers Strong Third Quarter Results and Beats Earnings Guidance

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) today announced results for the third quarter that met or exceeded the company's guidance. The company also updated its full-year sales, segment margin², and adjusted earnings per share^2,3 guidance ranges.

"Honeywell executed through a challenging environment in the third quarter, meeting or exceeding guidance for all metrics and demonstrating once again our culture of execution and accountability," said Vimal Kapur, chief executive officer of Honeywell. "Organic¹ sales growth was led by our Aerospace segment, where continued supply chain improvements enabled significant sales growth in both commercial aviation and defense and space. We also saw strong growth in other pockets of the portfolio, including double-digit organic sales growth in our process solutions business, and 20% organic sales growth in our Honeywell Connected Enterprise offerings. Orders growth of 10% in the quarter, led by strength in Aerospace and our other long-cycle businesses, drove our backlog to a new record level of $31.4 billion, up 8% year over year. Continued mix benefits combined with our laser focus on productivity across the Honeywell portfolio enabled us to expand margins in line with the high end of our guidance range. We remain committed to our capital deployment strategy and put our robust balance sheet to work in the third quarter by deploying $2.0 billion to dividends, high-return capex, M&A, and share repurchases, including more than doubling our share repurchases sequentially to 5.3 million shares. The result of all these efforts was increased adjusted earnings per share¹ in the face of uncertain macroeconomic dynamics."

Kapur continued, "I am very excited about the future of Honeywell. Our portfolio is aligned to powerful megatrends: automation, the future of aviation, and energy transition, all underpinned by our robust digitalization capabilities. Our technologically differentiated portfolio of solutions and world-class Honeywell Accelerator operating system will enable us to capitalize on these trends and drive the profitable growth we outlined in our long-term financial framework."

As a result of the company's third-quarter performance and management's outlook for the remainder of the year, Honeywell updated its full-year sales, segment margin², and adjusted earnings per share^2,3 guidance. Full-year sales are now expected to be $36.8 billion to $37.1 billion with organic¹ sales growth in the range of 4% to 5%. Segment margin² is now expected to be in the range of 22.5% to 22.6%, with segment margin expansion² of 80 to 90 basis points, up 10 basis points on the low end from the prior guidance range. Adjusted earnings per share^2,3 is now expected to be in the range of $9.10 to $9.20, narrowing the range by 5 cents on both ends from the prior guidance range. Operating cash flow is still expected to be in the range of $4.9 billion to $5.3 billion, and free cash flow¹ is still expected to be in the range of $3.9 billion to $4.3 billion, or $5.1 billion to $5.5 billion excluding the net impact of settlements signed in the fourth quarter of 2022. A summary of the company's full-year guidance changes can be found in Table 1.

Third-Quarter Performance

Honeywell sales for the third quarter were up 3% year over year on a reported basis and 2% year over year on an organic¹ basis. The third-quarter financial results can be found in Tables 2 and 3.

Aerospace sales for the third quarter were up 18% year over year on an organic¹ basis, the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit organic growth, with strength in both commercial aviation and defense and space. Commercial aviation growth was led by robust aftermarket demand driven by increased flight activity, particularly in air transport, with commercial aftermarket sales up more than 20% year over year. Commercial original equipment sales also increased in the third quarter on increased deliveries, particularly in business and general aviation. Defense and space sales grew 18% year over year as supply chain improvements and strengthened orders enabled us to convert our strong order book into sales. Segment margin remained unchanged year over year at 27.5%, as higher volume leverage and commercial excellence were offset by cost inflation and mix pressure in our original equipment business.

Honeywell Building Technologies sales for the third quarter were flat on an organic¹ basis year over year. Building solutions sales grew 4% organically driven by strong execution of building projects, particularly energy projects. Building products sales declined modestly on lower volumes of security offerings. Segment margin expanded 110 basis points to 25.2% driven by productivity actions and commercial excellence, partially offset by cost inflation.

Performance Materials and Technologies sales for the third quarter were up 3% on an organic¹ basis year over year. HPS sales grew 11% organically, led by another quarter of double-digit growth in projects and lifecycle solutions and services. UOP grew 6% organically as a result of increased petrochemical catalyst shipments, and double-digit growth in sustainable technology solutions. Orders in our sustainable technology solutions business once again grew triple digits. Segment margin contracted 50 basis points to 22.1% as a result of lower volumes in advanced materials.

Safety and Productivity Solutions sales for the third quarter decreased by 25% year over year on an organic¹ basis. Sales declines were due to lower volumes in warehouse and workflow solutions, which continues to be impacted by softness in the warehouse automation market. However, our pipeline remains robust, which translated into double-digit year over year and over 50% sequential orders growth in the third quarter. Additionally, we continue to see strong double-digit growth in the aftermarket services business. Volume declines in productivity solutions and services also impacted sales as we continue to work through the impact of lower demand and distributor destocking. Segment margin contracted 120 basis points year over year to 14.5% driven by lower volume leverage, partially offset by productivity and commercial excellence.

Conference Call Details

Honeywell will discuss its third-quarter results and updated full-year 2023 guidance during an investor conference call starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time today. A live webcast of the investor call as well as related presentation materials will be available through the Investor Relations section of the company's website (www.honeywell.com/investor). A replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days following the presentation.

TABLE 1: FULL-YEAR 2023 GUIDANCE²

TABLE 2: SUMMARY OF HONEYWELL FINANCIAL RESULTS

TABLE 3: SUMMARY OF SEGMENT FINANCIAL RESULTS

_{1. See additional information at the end of this release regarding non-GAAP financial measures.}

_{2. Segment margin and adjusted EPS are non-GAAP financial measures. Management cannot reliably predict or estimate, without unreasonable effort, the impact and timing on future operating results arising from items excluded from segment margin or adjusted EPS. We therefore, do not present a guidance range, or a reconciliation to, the nearest GAAP financial measures of operating margin or EPS.}

_{3. Adjusted EPS and adjusted EPS V% guidance excludes items identified in the non-GAAP reconciliation of adjusted EPS at the end of this release, and any potential future one-time items that we cannot reliably predict or estimate such as pension mark-to-market.}

Honeywell is an integrated operating company serving a broad range of industries and geographies around the world. Our business is aligned with three powerful megatrends - automation, the future of aviation, and energy transition - underpinned by our Honeywell Accelerator operating system and Honeywell Connected Enterprise integrated software platform. As a trusted partner, we help organizations solve the world's toughest, most complex challenges, providing actionable solutions and innovations that help make the world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.

Honeywell uses our Investor Relations website, www.honeywell.com/investor, as a means of disclosing information which may be of interest or material to our investors and for complying with disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor our Investor Relations website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, webcasts, and social media.

We describe many of the trends and other factors that drive our business and future results in this release. Such discussions contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act). Forward-looking statements are those that address activities, events, or developments that management intends, expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future. They are based on management's assumptions and assessments in light of past experience and trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other relevant factors, many of which are difficult to predict and outside of our control. They are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results, developments and business decisions may differ significantly from those envisaged by our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update or revise any of our forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law. Our forward-looking statements are also subject to material risks and uncertainties, including ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, such as lower GDP growth or recession, capital markets volatility, inflation, and certain regional conflicts, that can affect our performance in both the near- and long-term. In addition, no assurance can be given that any plan, initiative, projection, goal, commitment, expectation, or prospect set forth in this release can or will be achieved. These forward-looking statements should be considered in light of the information included in this release, our Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking plans described herein are not final and may be modified or abandoned at any time.

This release contains financial measures presented on a non-GAAP basis. Honeywell's non-GAAP financial measures used in this release are as follows:

• Segment profit, on an overall Honeywell basis;
• Segment profit margin, on an overall Honeywell basis;
• Organic sales growth;
• Free cash flow;
• Free cash flow excluding impact of settlements;
• Free cash flow margin;
• Adjusted earnings per share; and
• Adjusted earnings per share excluding pension headwind.

Management believes that, when considered together with reported amounts, these measures are useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in the analysis of ongoing operating trends. These measures should be considered in addition to, and not as replacements for, the most comparable GAAP measure. Certain measures presented on a non-GAAP basis represent the impact of adjusting items net of tax. The tax-effect for adjusting items is determined individually and on a case-by-case basis. Refer to the Appendix attached to this release for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.

Q3 2023 Earnings Release Financial