April 22 (Reuters) - Elevator maker Otis Worldwide OTIS.N said on Wednesday its new equipment sales were impacted by tariff pressures and shipment delays in the first quarter due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The Farmington, Connecticut-based company also forecast annual adjusted profit below Wall Street estimates, anticipating weak demand for new elevators and escalators.
Companies have been scaling back on capital investments such as new equipment purchases amid tariff uncertainty and geopolitical instability, impacting manufacturers such as Otis.
Otis forecast 2026 adjusted profit of $4.20 to $4.24 per share, the midpoint of which is slightly below analysts’ average estimate of $4.26 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company said it faced near-term pressures from cost headwinds and investments, reflected in the margins in its service segment.
It expects annual organic new equipment sales to be down low single digits to flat, but projects a rise in service sales up mid to high single digits.
First-quarter new equipment sales fell to $1.15 billion from $1.16 billion a year earlier, mostly due to a greater than 20% decline in China.
Otis’ adjusted profit fell to 89 cents per share in the quarter ended March 31, down from 92 cents a year ago. Analysts on average were expecting quarterly profit of 89 cents per share.
The company’s first-quarter revenue rose to $3.57 billion from $3.35 billion a year earlier, compared with estimates of $3.5 billion.
Reporting by Parth Chandna; Editing by Shreya Biswas
