(Reuters) – Rockwell Automation Inc on Thursday raised its 2023 profit outlook on high demand for industrial automation machines amid a tight labor market.
Demand in red-hot automation stayed resilient, as companies invested more to offset labor shortages. Still, ongoing supply chain snags and higher costs have hit companies across several sectors.
Rockwell’s shares rose 3.93% to $289 in premarket trade.
The company, which sells factory automation and robotics control software, now expects adjusted profit for the full year to be between $10.70 and $11.50 per share, up from a prior range of $10.20 to $11.00 per share.
Analysts, on average, expect $10.65 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
The company’s quarterly net income rose to $384 million, or $3.31 per share, in the first quarter ended Dec. 31, from $241.5 million, or $2.05 per share, a year ago.
Sales in the reported quarter at Rockwell’s intelligent devices segment, which deals with industrial components rose about 4% to $936.2 million. Overall quarterly sales for Rockwell rose to $1.98 billion from $1.86 billion a year earlier.
(Reporting by Pratyush Thakur in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
