MILWAUKEE _ With stabilized demand for its equipment used in manufacturing and the petroleum industry, Rockwell Automation Inc. on Wednesday posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its full-year earnings forecast.
Milwaukee-based Rockwell now says it expects a fiscal 2017 adjusted profit of between $5.95 and $6.35 per share, up from an earlier forecast of between $5.85 and $6.25.
The maker of industrial automation equipment said it had net income of $214.7 million, or $1.65 per share, in the first quarter ended Dec. 31, up from $185.5 million, or $1.40 per share, a year earlier.
The company's revenue climbed to $1.49 billion from $1.43 billion, the first increase in nine quarters.
Analysts on average expected a profit of $1.44 per share and revenue of $1.42 billion, according to Thomson Reuters IBES.
Rockwell has struggled with lower sales in the energy sector as oil and gas producers cut spending due to weak petroleum prices. The outlook for that business is likely to improve under the Trump administration, and it could improve for manufacturing overall.
Rockwell raised its full-year organic sales growth forecast to 1 percent to 5 percent from flat to 4 percent.
"Four percent organic growth in the quarter is a great start to the fiscal year," Blake Moret, Rockwell president and CEO, said in a statement.
