HON doing Well in 1Q12

Honeywell (+1.39,2.40%) reported strong first quarter earnings 4/20/11. The key highlights include an increase of 7% in sales to $9.3 billion, and an increase in Earnings of 18% to $1.04 per share. The company had recently forecasted earnings of 96-88 cents per share last month. HON attributes this growth to its Commercial Aerospace segment and its Specialty Materials segment (UOP sales). The specific catalysts for growth include absorbents used in refining oil, strong demand in both the refining and petrochemicals segments.

Honeywell Chairman and CEO Dave Cote reports, “We've seen good momentum in the U.S. and our key high growth regions, which is more than offsetting softness in Europe impacting our short-cycle businesses. Our long-cycle businesses, namely commercial aerospace and UOP, had particularly strong growth, overdriving expectations in the quarter.”  Although, the company is not confident on growth prospects in Europe, they feel that they have properly planned for it. In fact HON reports a 1% decline in overall Turbocharger engines, which is mostly driven by Europe sales. However, there has been a 10% decline in overall European Sales.

These results have enabled Honeywell to raise 2012FY earnings from continuing operations to $4.35-4.55 per share, from $4.25 to 4.50.

-Jim