Dive Brief:
- Honeywell is set to become two companies June 29: building-automation-focused Honeywell Technologies, or HT, and aviation-focused Honeywell Aerospace.
- As HT, the company will build on its growth in building automation, including from the demand it’s seeing in data centers, which drove Honeywell’s first quarter sales and revenue gains, according to the company.
- HT will trade on Nasdaq under Honeywell’s existing stock symbol HON. The company has a market value of $150.72 billion according to Seeking Alpha. The new aerospace company will trade as HONA.
Dive Insight:
Honeywell has been preparing for the spin-off since early last year to leverage large-scale changes that are sweeping through the built environment because of AI and automation.
“Our new brand highlights the powerful intersections of our technology and expertise — from controls to intelligence to safety — that will redefine how industries operate,” Honeywell CEO Vimal Kapur said in a statement.
Building automation has been one of the company’s brightest spots. In the first quarter, it grew 8% while the company’s overall growth was 2%.
“Building automation surpassed our expectations,” Honeywell CFO Mike Stepniak said on the company’s earnings call in April.
Two trends are driving its growth in the sector, both stemming from data center demand: the shift to liquid cooling and the rise of bring-your-own-power requirements on which local governments are conditioning permits.
“We have seen a trend where behind-the-meter power capacity is being set up, and our traditional automation capability is very unique in that space,” Kapur said on the April call. “We have always done power plants within a refinery or a paper mill; that is not new for us.”
When it comes to liquid cooling, Honeywell has the control systems needed to make that technology work, Kapur said. The “sophisticated controls” are “where Honeywell International Inc. technology is going to be very relevant,” he said.
In addition to building automation, HT will focus on the industrial and power sectors. Honeywell recently released updates to its safety suite platform that expand the software’s ability to monitor fleets of portable gas detection devices that can be used in industrial environments like refineries, chemical plants, utilities and emergency response operations.
The company has also expanded its security and access controls portfolio by partnering with security specialist Rhombus to provide AI-powered video through its channel partners and system integrator networks.
In addition to the aerospace spin-off, the company is selling two businesses, Kapur said on the earnings call: one providing warehouse and workflow solutions, and the other providing productivity solutions and services.
HT plans to retain an ownership interest in Quantinuum, which uses quantum computing for a range of business purposes. Quantinuum is preparing for an initial public offering at an estimated $14.3 billion valuation.
Based on recent research, there may be ways for quantum computing to factor into building systems.
For example, the convergence of digital twin and quantum computing is paving the way for new solutions in modeling, control and optimization of smart grid systems in the energy sector, and it shows promise in cybersecurity, which is becoming more important in building systems, according to research published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
“Honeywell Technologies' new brand demonstrates the company's clear focus and bold ambition,” said Kapur, adding that the new HT logo “reflects where the company's expertise meets technology.”
