HON
New roadmap, same Honeywell logo
Honeywell came into Investor Day with a big message: after the planned June 29 Aerospace spin-off, it wants to look less like a sprawling industrial conglomerate and more like a pure-play automation business. Translation: fewer moving parts, more focus, and hopefully a cleaner story for investors who prefer their industrials with a little less baggage.
The numbers are doing the heavy lifting
Management laid out a three-year framework calling for 4% to 6% organic growth, more than 10% annual adjusted EPS growth, and more than 90% free cash flow conversion. It also expects segment margins around 24%, adjusted EPS of about $6.00, and more than $3 billion in free cash flow by 2029.
For 2026, Honeywell guided adjusted EPS to $3.95 to $4.15 and free cash flow to roughly $2 billion. That’s the kind of forecast that tells Wall Street the company isn’t just decorating the booth — it’s trying to re-rate the whole thesis.
Automation, software, and a little bit of corporate gym membership
Honeywell is leaning hard into software and recurring revenue, aiming for about 15% annual recurring software growth and a mix of services plus software above 45% within five years. It also spotlighted its $1 billion Honeywell Forge bet, which has grown from fewer than 10,000 connected sites in 2020 to more than 324,000 in 2026. That’s the sort of metric companies love because it sounds like the future and can be put on a slide in giant font.
Cash discipline with a side of M&A
The company also said it plans to keep gross leverage below 3.0x, hold a 35% dividend payout ratio, shrink share count by about 1% a year, and pursue bolt-on acquisitions in the $2 billion to $4 billion range.
Big picture: Honeywell is trying to sell investors a cleaner, faster-growing story — one where the conglomerate discount gets packed up and sent to the recycling bin.