Honeywell International (NASDAQ:HON) shares have gained 5% this year, trailing Eaton at 23.68% and Emerson Electric at 22.90%. The stock traded at $214.73 on October 21, 2026. Weakness in its Process Automation and Technology business may explain part of the gap. Lower catalyst volumes hurt sales and margins in the second quarter. After separating Solstice Advanced Materials and spinning off its Aerospace business, Honeywell aims to become a leaner industrial technology company. Investors are weighing whether it can grow faster while carrying more debt. Revenue over the past year reached $38.1 billion, up 5.0%, with an operating margin of 18.8%. The 21.6% net margin was inflated by a one-time $6.6 billion gain from deconsolidating Quantinuum.

Honeywell International reported 7% organic sales growth in the third quarter, its first as a standalone pure-play automation company. The result beat Investor Day targets, and segment margins rose 370 basis points to over 21%. The company raised its 2026 guidance across all metrics. It now expects 4% to 5% organic growth and adjusted earnings per share of $8.40 to $8.45. Data centre orders grew over 100%. Process Automation and Technology sales rose 8%, and Building Automation posted its eighth straight quarter of high-single-digit growth. Honeywell aims to cut gross debt to under $13 billion by the end of 2026. It expects to eliminate all remaining stranded costs by then, six months early, and cites a $19 billion backlog for 2027 growth.

Honeywell International stock trades at 8.1 times earnings, against 22.7 for the median S&P 500 company. But the low multiple may mislead: most of the earnings came in one quarter, and net income of $8.21 billion exceeded operating income of $5.99 billion. On operating cash flow, Honeywell trades at 13.0 times against 15.0 for the S&P 500. That figure still includes a full year of cash from Honeywell Aerospace, which was spun off on June 29, 2026. Operating margin fell to 16.6% in the twelve months to June 2026, from 18.7% a year earlier. Management says cost cuts are ahead of plan and expects a segment margin above 22% by the end of 2026. Investors will watch segment margin in the third-quarter report, expected around October 22, 2026.