Otis Worldwide Corp. shares rose 2% in premarket trade Monday, after the elevator and escalator manufacturing and services company blew past estimates for the first quarter and raised its full-year guidance. Otis posted net income of $308 million, or 71 cents a share, for the quarter, up from $165 million, or 60 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 72 cents, well ahead of the 63 cents FactSet consensus. Sales rose 14.9% to $3.408 billion from $2.966 billion, also ahead of the $3.154 billion FactSet consensus. “Our New Equipment orders were up high teens, including growth in every region, and we saw increased organic sales and margin expansion in both segments. Continued robust cash flow generation enabled us to buy back $300 million of shares early in the year,” said CEO Judy Marks in a statement. The positive momentum has allowed the company to raise guidance, increase dividends by 20% and increase its share buyback program to $500 million, she said. Otis is now expecting full-year adjusted EPS of $2.78 to $2.84 and sales of $13.6 billion to $13.9 billion. The FactSet consensus is for EPS of $2.74 and sales of $13.5 billion. Shares have gained 5.5% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 11.3%.
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