Carrier GlobalCARR

The company reported earnings of $0.86 per share, beating the $0.82 that analysts expected. Revenue reached $6.35 billion, also ahead of targets. The standout figure was a 300 percent jump in orders for data center cooling, which shows the company is successfully capturing the infrastructure boom needed to run AI workloads.

Management raised its full-year sales forecast to $23 billion. While the stock fell immediately after the report due to a slight dip in profit margins, the underlying business looks healthy. The company is successfully pivoting away from older industrial units toward high-growth areas like electric heat pumps and advanced liquid cooling for servers.

See the full quarter, and how our tracked metrics did

Source: 8-K filing

Key highlights

• Data center demand surging: Data center cooling orders jumped 300% this quarter, as the company benefits from the massive power and cooling needs of modern computing facilities. This extreme growth helped push total company orders up 40% even while some other commercial markets remained soft.
• Organic sales recovery: Organic sales, which measure growth from existing operations and exclude currency swings, rose 3% after returning to growth earlier than management had anticipated. This turnaround was led by the residential and light commercial business in the Americas, which grew 9% and 10% respectively.
• Profit margins tightening: Adjusted operating margins fell to 17.2% from 19.1% a year ago, as higher costs for materials and a less profitable mix of products sold weighed on the bottom line. This shows that while sales volume is recovering, the company is still working to offset rising production expenses.
• Shareholder returns active: The company sent $640 million back to investors through dividends and stock buybacks during the quarter. This steady return of cash is supported by free cash flow that reached $810 million, up from $568 million in the same period last year.
• Full year outlook raised: Management increased its yearly sales target to $23 billion and raised its expected profit per share to $2.90, up from the previous $2.80 estimate. This higher guidance reflects confidence in the record backlog of orders and the faster than expected recovery in home heating and cooling markets.

Our take: This was a resilient quarter that proved the business can grow even as it navigates a complex portfolio transformation. The 300% surge in data center orders is the standout victory here, as it positions the company to be a primary winner in the shift toward AI infrastructure. This momentum reinforces our view that the company is successfully evolving into a higher growth climate specialist.