United Technologies quarterly results beat Wall St estimates

United Technologies ticked higher in pre-market trading after the company that makes everything from jet engines to elevators posted better than expected quarterly profits and sales.

The Connecticut-based company said profits climbed 18 per cent year-on-year to $1.4bn. Adjusting for one-time items, earnings of $1.48 a share exceeded Wall Street expectations of $1.36.

Sales rose 3 per cent to $13.8bn, also beating estimates of $13.5bn.

Revenues at the company’s Otis unit that had struggled amid a slowdown in Chinese construction that had weakened demand for elevators edged up to $2.8bn from $2.72bn in the same three-month period in 2016.

United Technologies was one of the companies targeted by Donald Trump for moving jobs overseas and the first to backpedal, scrapping plans for a Carrier plant in Mexico. Indeed, Carrier, which makes residential furnaces, said several hundred jobs would not be moved to Mexico from Indiana as part of a deal that would see the company receive up to $7m in Indiana state tax credits and retraining aid over 10 years.

The company reaffirmed its 2017 outlook for earnings in the range of $6.30 to $6.60 and organic sales growth in the range of 2 to 4 per cent.

United shares have advanced nearly 7 per cent so far this year. They were up 0.8 per cent in pre-market trading.