MILWAUKEE — Industrial equipment and software maker Rockwell Automation Inc. said Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter net income rose 7 percent, helped by higher demand at its control products and solutions business.
The results beat Wall Street predictions and Rockwell narrowed its full-year profit prediction to a range above current analysts' expectations. The company's shares jumped to their highest price in more than two years.
For the quarter ended June 30, the Milwaukee-based company earned $203.7 million, or $1.45 per share, up from $190.7 million, or $1.33 per share, in the same quarter of 2012.
Excluding one-time items, Rockwell said it posted an adjusted profit of $1.54 per share.
Revenue rose 4 percent to $1.62 billion from $1.56 billion.
The results beat Wall Street predictions. Analysts, on average, expected earnings of $1.39 per share on $1.6 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.
Revenue at the company's control products and solutions business increased 6 percent to $953.2 million, while architecture and software revenue edged up 1 percent to $671 million.
Based on its results so far this year and its expectations for the fourth quarter, Rockwell raised the lower end of its previous full-year profit prediction by 10 cents, projecting a profit of between $5.50 and $5.70 per share. Analysts expect $5.49 per share.
