Earnings season was not perfect for our industrial-focused portfolio companies, but we’re feeling pretty good about their prospects for the rest of the year. Shares of two of the five names finished Friday at all-time highs, and we belive the others show promise for patient investors. 1. Eaton Electrical power management company Eaton posted a fourth-quarter beat on earnings and revenue. Management also delivered a strong outlook for 2024 as part of the Feb. 1 release. This sets Eaton apart from its industrial peers whose outlooks for the year were on the conservative side. Eaton also continues to build a strong backlog. Shares of Eaton hit a record during their post-earnings rally and haven’t looked back. They finished at another all-time high on Friday of $277.52. ETN YTD mountain Eaton (ETC) year-to-date performance On earnings day, we hiked our Club price target on Eaton to $290 per share from $255. Eaton stands to be among the biggest winners from the reindustrialization and electrification trend throughout the country. We think this wave will serve as a catalyst, boosting the stock in the long run. There is little to nitpick about Eaton right now, but we do hope for a pullback so that we can add to our position. We got into Eaton back in November at $226.79 per share. We were able to buy some more two weeks later at $225.26. However, we felt compelled to add more and violated our cost basis with a December buy. But good thing we did, the stock has gained nearly 18% since then. 2. Linde Linde on Feb. 6 reported double-digit earnings growth and stellar guidance. The industrial gas and engineering company delivered records for operating margin, earnings, and return on capital for all of 2023. Linde shares jumped 3.7% on earnings day and went on to finish Friday at another all-time high. LIN YTD mountain Linde (LIN) year-to-date performance It was an all-around strong quarter for Linde and we think the momentum will continue. The firm’s exposure to clean energy and decarbonization trends, along with its pricing power, leaves us even more upbeat for the rest of the year. 3. Stanley Black & Decker Stanley Black & Decker posted mixed quarterly results on Feb. 1. Revenue fell short of estimates but adjusted EPS topped expectations. Strong free cash flow generation and adjusted gross margins at 29.8% for the quarter highlight better-than-expected progress in Stanley Black & Decker’s turnaround plan. The stock dipped 4% on the release and has traded a bit sideways ever since. Turnaround progress is great to hear because it’s a big part of our investment thesis for Stanley Black & Decker. The company’s solid annual dividend yield of 3.7% pays us for patience. Looking forward, we think a potentially lower interest rate environment in 2024 will help boost demand for Stanley Black & Decker. We bought more shares Wednesday . SWK YTD mountain Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) year-to-date performance When rates go down, housing sector activity should improve. Homebuilders and do-it-yourself consumers will increasingly turn to the company’s offerings. We’re considering buying more shares if there’s another overdone pullback. “I would take action on Stanley Black & Decker,” Jim Cramer said following the results. “We don’t have a lot of stocks that are levered to the Fed ultimately cutting. Those of you who want a play on the Fed cutting rates, this would be the No. 1.” Since then, the path to Federal Reserve rate cuts has become a bit murkier, with two key inflation reports this week coming in hotter-than-expected and disrupting a run of moderating prices. Jim has been saying for weeks that the Fed should not cut rates any time soon because of the risk of the strong economy re-igniting inflation. One month of inflation data does not make a trend. We’ll be watching the next batch of price pressure indicators in the coming weeks. Right now, market odds on the first Fed rate cut moved out to June. 4. DuPont DuPont posted a quarterly earnings beat on Feb. 6 after lowering expectations weeks ahead of results. The stock surged 7.7% that day. Adjusted earnings-per-share (EPS) fell 2% year over year to 87 cents. China weakness and inventory destocking, however, did weigh on results. But while fourth-quarter revenue dropped 6.6% to $2.99 billion and fell short of lowered estimates, investors that day and since then have continued to bid up the stock. In the past nine trading sessions, DuPont has only dropped one day. But still, shares were not yet back to the levels before management’s pre-announcement on Jan. 24, which sent DuPont stock 14% lower in the biggest one-day sell-off in 15 years. DD YTD mountain DuPont de Nemours (DD) year-to-date performance DuPont set a low bar for results and then jumped right over them. We liked that the quarter came with a $2 billion share repurchase announcement and a 6% dividend increase. Management’s commentary about robust order growth was reassuring, too. To be sure, we did cut our Club price target on DuPont to $78 per share from $85 on the day of the preannouncement. But we said then that we’re sticking with the stock. Weeks later, on Wednesday, we bought 70 more shares of DuPont because we see things looking up for the company. 5. Honeywell Honeywell posted a mixed quarter on Feb. 1. Earnings, profit margins, and cash flow slightly exceeded expectations. But, revenue missed the mark. Segment sales were largely underwhelming but profit exceeded estimates in Aerospace, the company’s biggest division. We bought more shares on earnings-day weakness even though the quarter wasn’t great. HON YTD mountain Honeywell International (HON) year-to-date performance We think the stock can improve from here due to Honeywell’s solid cash flow generation and its mostly better-than-expected segment margins. Management’s call for a rebound in the company’s short-cycle businesses is crucial because that part of the portfolio tends to have higher profit margins. The stock has been flat since its earnings day decline. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long LIN, DD, HON, SWK, ETN. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. 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Earnings season was not perfect for our industrial-focused portfolio companies, but we’re feeling pretty good about their prospects for the rest of the year.
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