Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) today reported first-quarter 2023 results that exceeded the company’s guidance on various metrics. The company also raised the midpoints of its full-year guidance for organic growth, segment margins, and adjusted earnings per share.

The company’s first-quarter sales increased 6% year-over-year, and organic sales increased 8% year-over-year, with Honeywell’s Performance Materials and Technologies Group and Aerospace Group both once again achieving double-digit organic sales growth. Operating margin increased 390 basis points to 19.1% and segment margin increased 90 basis points to 22.0%, driven by continued strong growth in the Safety & Productivity Solutions Group and the Smart Building Technologies Group. Honeywell’s first-quarter earnings per share were $2.07, up 26% year-over-year and up 8% on an adjusted basis. Operating cash flow was negative $800 million and free cash flow was negative $1 billion.

“Honeywell had a great start to 2023, beating expectations on all metrics in the first quarter.” Darius Adamczyk, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell, said, “Organic sales growth was driven by double-digit growth in business aviation, UOP, process control, smart buildings and high-performance materials. The order backlog was $30.3 billion, up 6 percent from a year earlier. The strength of the Aerospace Group, in particular, gives us confidence in our full-year expectations. Our continued focus on operational excellence and productivity allowed us to weather inflation in stride and exceed expectations to deliver segment margins and earnings per share. Our strong balance sheet allowed us to deploy $1.6 billion in share repurchases, dividends and capital expenditures during the quarter. Honeywell also announced that it would acquire American Compressor Control Company. This is a leading provider of turbomachinery control and automation solutions, and the combination of our process solution installed base and connected factory platform strength will help customers accelerate their energy transition.”

He added: “Looking ahead to the full year, we will continue to deliver excellent results based on our strengths, despite the continuing uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment. Our business is well positioned for continued growth, our backlog supports business expectations, and our differentiated portfolio of technology solutions enables us to solve the toughest challenges in automation, digitalization and sustainability around the world. These strengths strongly support our revised guidance for the full year, and I am confident that Honeywell will continue to perform well under Vimal Kapur’s leadership.” I am honored to have the opportunity to lead Honeywell, and our prospects are bright.”

Based on the company’s first-quarter results and management’s outlook for the remaining three quarters of the year, Honeywell raised the midpoint of its guidance range for full-year sales, segment margins and adjusted earnings per share. Full-year sales are now expected to be in the range of $36.5 billion to $37.3 billion, with organic growth of 3% to 6%. Segment margins are expected to be 22.3% to 22.6%, with margins expanding by 60 to 90 basis points. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to be $9.00 to $9.25, with the lower end of the guidance range raised by 20 cents and the upper end raised by 5 cents. Operating cash flow is expected to be in the range of $4.9 billion to $5.3 billion. Free cash flow is expected to be between $3.9 billion and $4.3 billion.