High Bar Hits Honeywell

Honeywell (HON Quote) posted a 14% jump in third-quarter profits and offered a bullish forecast for the rest of the year, but shares took a hit early Friday after the industrial giant's results were slightly shy of analysts' expectations.

The Morris Township, N.J.-based company said third-quarter earnings rose to $618 million, or 81 cents a share, from $541 million, or 66 cents a share, a year earlier. The earnings per share were a penny short of analysts' average estimate, according to Thomson Financial.

Sales jumped to $8.74 billion from $7.95 billion, exceeding Wall Street's forecast of $8.59 billion.

"We had strong organic sales growth in each of our businesses in the third quarter," said Honeywell Chairman and Chief Executive Dave Cote in a statement. "Great positions in good industries are driving Honeywell's consistent performance and global growth."

For the full year, Honeywell now expects earnings of $3.14 to $3.16 a share -- at the higher end of its prior view of $3.10 to $3.16. Still, that allows for some downside to analysts' profit estimate of $3.15 a share.

The company raised its sales forecast by $300 million to $34.2 billion. Analysts are looking for 2007 revenue of $33.87 billion.

Honeywell has seen its stock rise 34% this year, so investors have lofty expectations for the company. Shares recently were down $1.42, or 2.3%, to $59.27 after the slight profit miss and cautious economic comments from industrial bellwether Caterpillar(CAT Quote).