Carrier Q2 Earnings & Sales Top Estimates, HVAC Orders Up Y/Y

CARR stock tumbled 2% during today’s pre-market trading session, post the earnings announcement.

Carrier’s Q2 Earnings & Sales Trends

The quarter’s adjusted earnings per share were 86 cents, down 7% year over year but 3.6% above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 83 cents.

Net sales increased 4% to $6.35 billion year over year and beat the consensus mark by 5.5%.

Product sales increased to $5.63 billion from $5.48 billion in the year-ago quarter. Service sales advanced to $717 million from $636 million, providing a stronger recurring-revenue contribution.

CARR's Americas Unit Leads Quarterly Growth

Climate Solutions Americas generated sales of $3.37 billion, up 4% on both a reported and organic basis. Residential sales increased 9%, while light commercial sales rose 10% on solid retail and K-12 demand.

Commercial sales declined 8% because of customer delivery timing. Segment operating profit decreased 6% to $823 million year over year, while margin fell 260 basis points (bps) to 24.4%, as price-led revenue growth was outweighed by input costs and an unfavorable mix.

Carrier Sees Mixed Regional Segment Trends

Climate Solutions Europe revenues increased 6% to $1.32 billion, including 3% organic growth. Residential and light commercial sales rose high-single digits, supported by an approximately 20% increase in heat-pump sales, while commercial revenues declined mid-single digits.

Climate Solutions Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa sales grew 4% to $917 million. Double-digit gains in India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia offset continued weakness in China. Transportation revenues rose 2% to $738 million, as roughly 40% container growth countered low-teens declines in global truck and trailer sales.

CARR Faces Margin Pressure Across Businesses

Adjusted operating profit declined 6% year over year to $1.10 billion. Adjusted operating margin contracted 190 bps to 17.2%, as favorable volume and productivity were more than offset by higher input costs and an unfavorable business mix.

Reported operating profit fell 9% to $825 million, with the corresponding margin narrowing 180 bps to 13%. A higher adjusted effective tax rate of 23.2%, compared with 22.1% a year earlier, also weighed on earnings, while a lower share count offered a partial offset.

Carrier Generates Strong Cash Flow & Returns Capital

Operating cash flow totaled $927 million, up from $649 million in the prior-year quarter. After capital expenditures of $117 million, free cash flow reached $810 million compared with $568 million a year earlier.

Carrier returned about $640 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the second quarter. The company maintained its full-year free cash flow target of approximately $2 billion and share-repurchase expectation of about $1.5 billion.

CARR Lifts 2026 Sales & Profit Outlook

Carrier raised its 2026 sales outlook to approximately $23 billion from about $22 billion. The company now expects organic sales growth in the mid-to-high-single-digit range, compared with its prior expectation of flat to low-single-digit growth.

Adjusted operating profit is projected at roughly $3.5 billion, up from the previous forecast of $3.4 billion. Adjusted earnings guidance increased to approximately $2.90 per share from $2.80, including an estimated five-cent headwind from the NORESCO exit and start-up costs for a new U.S. manufacturing facility.

CARR Stock’s Zacks Rank & Recent Construction Releases

Carrier currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Comfort Systems USA, Inc. FIX delivered impressive second-quarter 2026 results, with earnings and revenues surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate and increasing sharply year over year.

Comfort Systems’ quarterly performance reflected continued strength across its end markets, robust execution by the operating teams and sustained demand that drove record backlog growth, reinforcing its confidence in the business momentum. Backlog as of June 30, 2026, totaled $14.06 billion, increasing 12.9% from $12.45 billion at March 31, 2026, and jumping 73.2% from $8.12 billion reported a year ago.

United Rentals, Inc. URI reported solid second-quarter 2026 results, with adjusted earnings per share and total revenues beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate and increasing year over year.

Record rental revenues, higher fleet productivity and robust specialty demand supported United Rentals’ results. Fleet productivity improved 3.4% year over year. Rental revenues increased 12.7% year over year to a quarterly record of $3.85 billion. Management raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $17.5-$17.8 billion from $16.9-$17.4 billion. The adjusted EBITDA forecast increased to $7.98-$8.13 billion from $7.63-$7.88 billion.

PulteGroup, Inc. PHM reported better-than-expected second-quarter 2026 results, with adjusted earnings and total revenues topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate, but declining year over year.

The quarterly results reflect reduced home-closing volumes, softer average selling prices (ASP) and margin compression. Ongoing softness in the housing market because of weaker consumer confidence and ongoing affordability challenges due to high mortgage rates hurt the top-line growth. The number of homes closed declined 8.4% year over year to 6,997 units. Net new orders increased 6.4% year over year to 7,536 homes.

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