Shares of Carrier Global Corporation (CARR) tumbled 5.28% in pre-market trading on Tuesday following the release of its second-quarter 2026 financial results. The decline came despite the company reporting a 4% rise in net sales to $6.35 billion and an adjusted earnings per share of $0.86.
The sell-off appears driven by a miss on GAAP earnings, which fell 14% year-over-year to $0.60 per share. This was accompanied by a 9% drop in GAAP operating profit to $825 million, causing the operating margin to contract by 1.8 percentage points to 13.0%. While Carrier raised its full-year sales outlook to approximately $23 billion and adjusted EPS guidance to about $2.90, the weaker-than-expected bottom-line profitability may have disappointed investors.
On a positive note, the company highlighted strong order momentum, with total orders climbing about 40%, including a more than 300% surge in data center orders and a roughly 65% increase in commercial HVAC orders. Operating cash flow improved to $927 million, lifting free cash flow to $810 million, of which about $640 million was returned to shareholders through dividends and repurchases.