Lower costs will spur Otis’s earnings

Article Excerpt

OTIS WORLDWIDE CORP. $99 is a buy. The company (New York symbol OTIS; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 400.6 million; Market cap: $39.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.otis.com) is the world’s largest maker of elevators and escalators. Otis’s revenue in the three months ended December 31, 2024, rose 2.3%, to $3.68 billion from $3.62 billion a year earlier. Higher revenue from services (up 7.6%) offset lower sales of new equipment (down 7.4%). Earnings before unusual items rose 5.1%, to $374 million from $356 million. The company repurchased $207 million of its shares in the quarter, which is why earnings per share rose at a more impressive 6.9%, to $0.93 from $0.87. The company is now streamlining its manufacturing operations. It expects that plan to cut $200 million from its annual costs by mid-2025. The saving will help lift Otis’s 2025 earnings 8% to $4.12 a share; the stock trades at a reasonable 24.0 times that estimate. The $1.56…