By Aatreyee Dasgupta
(Reuters) -Air conditioner maker Carrier Global beat analysts’ estimates for second-quarter profit and revenue on Tuesday, but a late start to the summer led to a fall in orders from residential customers.
The company now expects residential organic sales to rise a mid-single digit percentage this year, down from its prior forecast of a percentage growth between high single digits and double digits.
Shares of the Florida-based company were down 10%.
Quarterly net sales of Carrier’s biggest segment, Climate Solutions Americas, rose 14% from a year ago, boosted by a 45% rise in sales to commercial clients.
Increasing global temperatures fueled by climate change, and rising air pollution, are sustaining demand for new air conditioners and air purifiers, as well as for maintenance and repair of old ones.
Total aftermarket sales for the quarter were up 13%.
The company also benefits from robust demand for its products for cooling data centers used for artificial intelligence technologies.
But a late start to the cooling season, which refers to the high-demand summer months, contributed to a 60% fall in orders from residential customers, compared with a 100% rise last year.
“Residential sales were up 11%, below our expectations due to lower volume,” CFO Patrick Goris said during the quarterly earnings call on Tuesday.
Carrier reiterated its annual sales forecast of nearly $23 billion and adjusted profit forecast per share ranging between $3 and $3.10, despite lowering its expectations for residential sales.
Total net sales for the quarter ended June 30 rose 3% from a year ago to $6.11 billion, compared with analysts’ estimate of $6.09 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
It reported a second-quarter adjusted profit of 92 cents per share, compared with analysts’ estimate of 90 cents per share.
(Reporting by Anshuman Tripathy and Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
