By Scott Malone

(Reuters) – Harley-Davidson Inc (HOG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a better-than-expected 29.7 percent rise in profit, but its shares slid 3.5 percent as the company cut its projections for third-quarter motorcycle shipments as it retools a big U.S. factory.

Executives with the U.S. manufacturer also told investors on Wednesday that they are seeing slowing demand in northern Europe in addition to the weakness in the South and that U.S. consumers seemed to be becoming warier about making purchases after a spike in motorcycle purchases earlier in the year.

By Scott Malone

(Reuters) – United Technologies Corp (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a second-quarter profit that easily topped analysts’ expectations and won final regulatory approval on Thursday for its $16.5 billion takeover of Goodrich Corp (GR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), setting the stage for the deal to close this week.

Shares of United Tech rose nearly 1 percent in morning trading, as the higher-than-expected profit overshadowed the company’s warning that full-year earnings would be roughly flat with 2011 due to the weak European economy.

July 26 (Reuters) – United Technologies Corp
reported a 4.6 percent drop in quarterly sales and cut its
earnings forecast for the rest of the year, as a slowing Chinese
economy and Europe’s financial woes eroded demand for its
elevators and jet engine parts.
The world’s biggest maker of elevators and escalators also
said on Thursday that it had won final regulatory approvals for
its $16.5 billion acquisition of Goodrich Corp, a maker
of aircraft landing gear, setting the stage for that deal to
close later this week.
United Tech, which also makes Pratt & Whitney jet engines
and Sikorsky helicopters, now expects earnings to be roughly
flat for the year on a 5 percent rise in revenue, a revision
that takes into account the decline in the value of the euro.
Its shares were up 0.5 percent at $73.00 in premarket
trading.
This week United Tech wrapped up two unit sales it had been
counting on to help fund the Goodrich acquisition. Late on
Wednesday it agreed to sell some industrial component parts of
its Hamilton Sundstrand arm to Carlyle Group LP and BC
Partners Ltd for $3.46 billion, just two days after reaching a
$550 million deal to sell its Rocketdyne space arm to GenCorp
Inc.
Those deals helped the company sharply reduce the amount of
equity it needed to issue to fund the Goodrich acquisition. When
it announced the deal in September, it had planned to sell $4.6
billion in new common shares. It backed away from that move,
which was unpopular with stockholders and last month sold just
$1 billion of convertible notes.
The Hartford, Connecticut-based company lowered its
full-year earnings forecast to a range of $5.25 to $5.35 per
share, down from an April outlook of $5.30 to $5.50.
United Tech said it expected 2012 sales of $58 billion to
$59 billion, compared with the previous forecast of $61 billion
to $62 billion.

United Tech said second-quarter net income attributable to
common shareholders came to $1.33 billion, up less than 1
percent from $1.32 billion a year earlier.
Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations came
to $1.62, above analysts’ forecast of $1.41, according to
Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue fell 4.6 percent to $13.81 billion from $14.47
billion and below Wall Street’s $14.44 billion expectation.
Factoring out the weakening euro and the sale of some
businesses, it would have been up 1 percent.
The results treat Rocketdyne and the Hamilton industrial
arms — as well as United Tech’s Clipper Windpower and fuel cell
businesses, for which the company is still seeking buyers — as
discontinued.
The euro’s fall against the dollar has hit the industrial
sector this quarter, as it diminishes the value of sales made in
Europe.
United Tech’s industrial peers, including General Electric
Co, Honeywell International Inc and Textron Inc
have largely beaten Wall Street’s expectations for the
quarter, easing investor worries about a slowing global economy
and leaving the Standard & Poor’s capital goods industry index
up 2 percent over the last five days of trading.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Some U.S. manufacturers shook off weak European demand in the latest quarter, with makers of products ranging from bulldozers to cars finding solid demand at home was enough to offset weakness abroad.

Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Boeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Rockwell Automation Inc (ROK.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported earnings that topped Wall Street’s expectations.

NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) – Worries about a slowing global economy crimped corporate spending in the second quarter, leaving the chief executives of top U.S. companies including United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and DuPont Co (DD.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) more guarded on their growth prospects for the rest of the year.

UPS, along with chip maker Texas Instruments Inc (TXN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and printer maker Lexmark International Inc (LXK.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said it would not grow profits as quickly as expected through the rest of the year, as the corporate customers that generate most of its volume hold the line on spending.

NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) – Manufacturers reined in 2012 sales and profit forecasts on Tuesday even as several companies reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings that showed they were overcoming weak European demand and the impact of a stronger dollar.

Illinois Tool Works Inc (ITW.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Pentair Inc (PNR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Paccar Inc (PCAR.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) were among the companies that beat Wall Street forecasts. The results showed, though, that Europe’s slow economies were taking their toll on U.S. industrials, some of which generate as much as a third of their sales from the region. Several companies cut their 2012 forecasts.

/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Seesmart Inc, a small California lighting company, used to make all of its LED products in China, but last year that started to change.

Frustrated by expensive and slow shipping and wanting more control over the manufacturing process, the 15-year-old company started building factories in Simi Valley, California, and Crystal Lake, Illinois.

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – United Technologies Corp (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) agreed to sell its Rocketdyne space unit to GenCorp Inc (GY.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a maker of aerospace propulsion systems, for $550 million, the companies said on Monday, a deal that will fund a slice of United Tech’s largest-ever acquisition.

Rocketdyne, the world’s largest manufacturer of liquid-fueled rocket propulsion systems, is one of three units United Tech Chief Executive Louis Chenevert put on the block in an effort to fund the diversified U.S. manufacturer’s $16.5 billion takeover of Goodrich Corp (GR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

By Scott Malone

(Reuters) – General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Friday reported a 2.5 percent rise in profit from continuing operations, topping Wall Street expectations, as solid demand in the United States and emerging markets offset weakness in Europe.

The largest U.S. conglomerate by revenue stuck with its forecast for the rest of 2012, saying it would increase earnings at a double-digit percentage rate by pushing profit margins higher.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Investors breathed a sigh of relief this week as big U.S. companies topped Wall Street’s profit forecasts with companies, including General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), showing they could continue to grow in the face of Europe’s economic woes.

Shares of companies including Honeywell International Inc (HON.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Textron Inc (TXT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Mattel Inc (MAT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Baker Hughes Inc (BHI.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) rallied this week after they reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings.