United Technologies Corp. (UTX) said profit and revenue next year will probably fall below analysts’ estimates as sluggish U.S. government sales and tax-law changes temper earnings growth. The shares fell.
Earnings per share will be $6.55 to $6.85, the company said yesterday at a meeting in New York. That compares with analysts’ estimates of $6.85. United Technologies said sales will climb 1.6 percent to about $64 billion. Analysts had projected $66.2 billion.
United Technologies’ initial forecast for 2014 showed the drag from waning demand for U.S. military jets and helicopters along with a slow European economic expansion. The company supplies the aerospace industry with Pratt & Whitney jet engines and makes products such as Otis elevators and Carrier air conditioners that are sensitive to the construction market.
“It’s clear to me we’ve had a softer recovery than what we expected this time last year,” Chief Executive Officer Louis Chenevert said at the meeting.
The guidance prompted Nick Heymann, a William Blair & Co. analyst in New York, to cut his rating on the stock to market perform and reduce his 12-month price target by 8.7 percent to $116, citing its outlook for sales growth of 3 percent to 4 percent next year excluding the effect of acquisitions.
“The most critical issue behind our decision to lower our rating was the notable reduction in expectations for organic revenue growth in 2014,” Heymann wrote in a note to clients today. Read More :
United Technologies Corp. (UTX)
