While air conditioning might not be a vital home feature—not like heating in the winter in most places—it’s certainly difficult to live without it. And Carrier Global (NYSE:CARR), who made its name with both, is now branching out into the home heat pump market. That news was good enough for shareholders, who sent shares up fractionally in Monday afternoon’s trading session.
Heat pumps are a growing market for Carrier and others in that line, mostly because of their environmental impact and comparative ease of installation. In fact, heat pumps have outsold fossil fuel-driven furnaces for two years running now, and there’s plenty of likelihood that they will improve. After all, nearly three in eight people on Earth live in a “hot climate zone,” and only 8% of them have access to air conditioning systems.
Offering a low-cost and low-impact solution to such a problem represents a huge potential win for the company that can do it, and Carrier is working hard to be that company.
And Just in Time, Too
It’s good to hear that Carrier is working hard to pull off such a feat because it needs a win right now, and pretty badly, too. Analysts are projecting a quarterly EPS figure of $0.50 when Carrier releases its earnings report soon, which was actually adjusted downward from earlier figures. Worst of all, it’s also a drop of 3.9% compared to the same time last year. However, breaking into the world hot zone market, which is mostly untapped so far, would be an epic win, and that’s just the kind of win Carrier needs to turn itself around.
What Is the Price Forecast for Carrier Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on CARR stock based on six Buys, five Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 30.31% rally in its share price over the past year, the average CARR price target of $63.42 per share implies 17.99% upside potential.
