Honeywell announced results for the first quarter that exceeded the company's guidance. The company also raised its full-year sales guidance and raised the midpoint of its adjusted earnings per share and cash flow guidance.

“Honeywell delivered a strong start to 2021 with first-quarter results that exceeded our expectations. We are seeing promising signs of a rapid recovery in some of our markets, and we are poised to capitalize on new business opportunities as they arise,” said Darius Adamczyk, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell.

“We reported first-quarter sales of $8.5 billion, flat year over year, or a decline of 2% on an organic basis. Our first-quarter sales exceeded the high end of our guidance range by approximately $250 million driven by continued double-digit growth in our Warehouse and Workflow Solutions and personal protective equipment businesses as well as demand for our building products and services, advanced materials, and connected software.

“Operating margin contracted 220 basis points for the quarter to 17.8%, with segment margin contracting 80 basis points to 21.0%, which exceeded the high end of our guidance by 10 basis points. We delivered segment margin expansion in Aerospace, Honeywell Building Technologies, and Safety and Productivity Solutions for the second consecutive quarter, supported by our streamlined cost base following the cost actions we took in 2020. We delivered earnings per share of $2.03, with adjusted earnings per share1 of $1.92, down 13% year over year but 9 cents above the high end of the previously provided guidance range.

“We continued to take advantage of our strong balance sheet, and deployed capital to high-return opportunities in the quarter, including closing our acquisition of quality management software leader Sparta Systems and announcing the acquisition of a majority stake in Fiplex, a leading provider of in-building communications systems. In addition, we repurchased $0.8 billion in Honeywell shares and made five strategic investments through Honeywell Ventures.”

Adamczyk continued, “As we look to the rest of 2021 and beyond, we are well positioned for the recovery to come. Our new offerings in growing markets like life sciences are gaining traction and the industries that were hardest hit by the pandemic are expected to improve throughout the year. We have a robust portfolio of technologies that help our customers meet their environmental and social goals. In fact, about half of Honeywell’s new product introduction research and development investment is directed toward products that improve environmental and social outcomes for customers. Earlier this month, we pledged to become carbon neutral in our operations and facilities by 2035, building on our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint in 2024 by 10% from 2018 levels. Our confidence in this commitment is underpinned by our history of setting aggressive environmental targets and beating them, which has enabled us to reduce our greenhouse gas intensity by more than 90% since 2004. We look forward to continuing to deliver outstanding results for our shareowners, customers, and employees."

As a result of the company’s first-quarter performance and management’s outlook for the remainder of the year, Honeywell raised its full-year sales guidance and raised the midpoint of its adjusted earnings per share and cash flow guidance. Full-year organic sales growth is now expected to be in the range of 3% to 5%. Adjusted earnings per share2 is expected to be $7.75 to $8.00, up 15 cents from the low end of the prior guidance range. Operating cash flow is now expected to be in the range of $5.8 billion to $6.1 billion and free cash flow is now expected to be in the range of $5.2 billion to $5.5 billion.