What Happened?
Shares of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration company Carrier Global (NYSE: CARR) jumped 5.9% in the afternoon session after the company reported third-quarter results that beat analyst expectations for profit, even as sales declined. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.67, which was notably higher than the $0.57 that analysts had predicted. This positive surprise occurred even though total sales fell by about 7% to $5.6 billion compared to the previous year. The performance was mixed across its different units. The company saw softness in its residential business due to weaker end markets and distributors reducing inventory. However, this was offset by strong results in its Commercial HVAC business in the Americas, which grew 30%, boosted by strong orders related to data centers. Carrier also announced a $5 billion share repurchase program.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $60.87, up 3.6% from previous close.
Is now the time to buy Carrier Global? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Carrier Global’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 6 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 8 days ago when the stock gained 3.3% on the news that its venture arm, Carrier Ventures, made a strategic investment in Net Feasa, a company specializing in wireless IoT connectivity for the shipping industry. The investment was aimed at delivering real-time visibility for the cold chain at sea, improving how refrigerated goods are tracked and managed during transit. This move was part of Carrier's broader effort to present intelligent solutions for global container shipping. In addition to this investment, the company also strengthened its leadership by appointing Vineet Kashyap as the new Vice President for its HVAC segment in the Asia and Middle East regions. Kashyap brought over 25 years of global experience and was expected to help drive the company's growth and sustainability goals in these key markets.
Carrier Global is down 10.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $60.87 per share, it is trading 24.6% below its 52-week high of $80.73 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Carrier Global’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,787.
Today’s young investors won’t have read the timeless lessons in Gorilla Game: Picking Winners In High Technology because it was written more than 20 years ago when Microsoft and Apple were first establishing their supremacy. But if we apply the same principles, then enterprise software stocks leveraging their own generative AI capabilities may well be the Gorillas of the future. So, in that spirit, we are excited to present our Special Free Report on a profitable, fast-growing enterprise software stock that is already riding the automation wave and looking to catch the generative AI next.
