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New York • United Technologies raised the low end of its 2014 forecast as the maker of Pratt & Whitney jet engines and Otis elevators beat analysts' second-quarter profit estimates.
Annual earnings will be in a range of $6.75 to $6.85 a share, compared with a previous projection of $6.65 to $6.85, the Hartford, Conn.-based company said Tuesday. Quarterly profit of $1.84 a share from continuing operations exceeded the $1.70 average of 11 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Chief Executive Louis Chenevert has reshaped United Technologies around its aviation and building services operations with the $16.5 billion purchase of aerospace supplier Goodrich Corp. and a move to combine the Otis elevator, Carrier climate-control and fire and security divisions into one unit.
Quarterly sales rose 7 percent to $17.2 billion, buoyed by demand for Otis elevators and commercial spare-parts orders at UTC Aerospace Systems, the aircraft-components unit that includes Goodrich. That trailed the $17.3 billion average estimate.
Equipment orders climbed 3 percent at Otis, including a 44 percent increase in North America.
"The U.S. market continues to show strength," Howard Rubel, a New York-based analyst at Jefferies LLC, said in an interview before earnings were announced. He recommends buying the shares.
Pratt experienced a pair of high-profile engine incidents during the quarter, including a May 29 fire that grounded the test fleet of new Bombardier Inc. CSeries jetliners. In June, an engine failure forced the F-35 fighter jet to stop flying and miss last week's Farnborough Air Show in England.