Honeywell fell less than 1 percent today, its second straight down day in a week where the stock has steadily drifted lower. We think this is mostly normal market movement, as there was no major news and the whole market ended the day slightly lower.
Our view
The business is now leaner and more focused on high-margin automation, which should make its profits more predictable over time. If you already own it, there is nothing to do here but sit tight and let the new structure prove itself.
Honeywell Aerospace reports first results as a standalone company
Honeywell Aerospace, which recently separated from the main Honeywell business, reported sales of $4.5 billion for the second quarter. This represents a 5 percent increase from the same period last year. The company also updated its financial targets for the rest of 2026, including new expectations for its earnings per share.
While this unit is now a separate company trading under the ticker HONA, its performance remains a critical indicator for Honeywell (HON) shareholders. The aerospace business was long the most profitable engine of the old conglomerate. Seeing it maintain growth as an independent firm suggests the transition is going smoothly and the aviation market remains healthy.
Honeywell completes sale of productivity business to Brady Corporation
Honeywell has finalized the all-cash sale of its Productivity Solutions and Services business to Brady Corporation. This divestiture is part of a larger plan to simplify the company by shedding units that do not fit its core focus on industrial and building automation.
By exiting these smaller lines of business, management aims to make the company easier for analysts to value and more efficient to run. The move follows other recent sales and spin-offs, leaving Honeywell as a more focused company centered on high-margin automation technology.
Bank of America analysts upgraded the stock from an Underperform rating to Neutral. They also increased their price target from $220 to $265. The change follows a quarterly report that showed stronger execution and a rise in orders across the business.
This upgrade suggests that professional analysts are becoming more comfortable with Honeywell's new structure after its recent breakup. The firm noted that the company's outlook for 2026 has become clearer, which often helps support a higher stock price as uncertainty fades.
Company newsFor the record
Jul 27
Honeywell finishes sale of warehouse solutions unit
Honeywell has closed the sale of its Warehouse and Workflow Solutions business. This unit, which includes the Intelligrated and Transnorm brands, was sold for cash to a private investment firm. The sale is another step in Honeywell's effort to focus entirely on its core automation markets. While these divestitures reduce the total size of the company, they are intended to improve profit margins by removing lower-growth segments. For long-term owners, this continues the trend of Honeywell becoming a leaner, more specialized industrial technology company.
Honeywell's board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share. The payment will be made on September 4 to shareholders who own the stock by the close of business on August 14. This move continues the company's long-standing practice of returning cash to its owners.
Analysts recently adjusted their outlooks following the company's latest earnings report and business sales. Most analysts, 20 out of 30, rate the stock a buy, and the average target price of $256 suggests a 5% gain from today.
Average target$255.50+11%vs $230.12 today
TodayAvg price
Low $175High $298
Buy30 analysts
0Bearish
10Neutral
20Bullish
FirmRatingPrice TargetDate
Jefferies
Hold
$235→$175
8/9/2026
Jefferies
Hold
$265
7/28/2026
UBS
—
$240→$265
7/27/2026
BMO Capital
Outperform
$253→$276
7/27/2026
RBC Capital
Outperform
$272→$298
7/24/2026
Bernstein
—
$233→$243
7/12/2026
Wolfe Research
Outperform
$256→$265
7/9/2026
Deutsche Bank
Buy
$250→$263
6/30/2026
Daiwa
Outperform
$255
6/30/2026
Barclays
Overweight
$251→$239
6/10/2026
Bernstein
Market Perform
$233
6/9/2026
RBC Capital
Outperform
$268→$275
6/5/2026
Honeywell earnings
Management has a consistent habit of clearing the bars they set, beating profit expectations for six straight quarters even while navigating a complex breakup.
Earnings history
EstimateBeatMiss
Honeywell past earnings results
Expected
Actual
Surprise
EPS
$1.80
$1.95
+8.3%
Revenue
$5.03B
$5.19B
+3.2%
Key highlights
Aerospace spin off complete: The company finished separating its aerospace business on June 29, 2026, leaving the remaining firm with a $20 billion backlog focused entirely on industrial and building automation. The standalone aerospace unit grew sales 5% this quarter, but the new Honeywell Technologies will now operate as a pure play automation business.
Building automation growth: Sales in the building automation segment grew 9% to $2.00 billion, driven by double digit gains in fire safety products. Orders in this division rose 13% compared to a year ago, fueled by high demand from data centers and the hospitality industry.
Industrial margin expansion: The industrial automation division increased its profit margin by 90 basis points to 17.2%, which is the percentage of sales kept after paying for operations. This improvement came from better pricing and higher productivity, even as the company dealt with rising costs from inflation.
Process automation sales dip: Organic sales in the process automation unit fell 1% to $1.68 billion as a drop in aftermarket parts offset a 5% gain in new project work. Despite the slight sales dip, new orders for the segment surged 24% because of heavy demand for liquefied natural gas technology.
Full year outlook raised: Management raised its full year profit forecast to a range of $8.05 to $8.35 per share, up from the previous high of $8.30. The company also expects stronger sales growth in the second half of the year, targeting a range of 4% to 6% on an organic basis.
Our take: This was a strong quarter that successfully navigated a massive corporate split. The 10% jump in adjusted profit for the new automation business proves the simplified structure is working. While process automation faced some volume pressure, the 16% overall order growth reinforces a healthy long term path for the remaining company.
Honeywell’s next earnings date
Q3 2026
OCT
22
Expectation
EPS
$2.15
Revenue
$5.03B
AUG
14
Dividend payday
Own the stock before this date to get the next dividend payment.
Metrics we are tracking
Metric
Expectations
Status
Aerospace Organic Growth
Maintaining double-digit growth for at least three more quarters
5% in Q2 2026
Total Backlog
Staying above $30 billion while increasing revenue conversion
$38 billion in Q2 2026
Segment Margin
Reaching and holding above 22.5% on a consolidated basis
