By Rob Curran

Otis Worldwide's fourth-quarter net income rose and the elevator maker projected 2026 sales growth amid strong demand for service and upgrades.

The Farmington, Conn., maker of elevators and escalators posted earnings of $374 million, or 95 cents a share, up from $337 million, or 84 cents a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted earnings were $1.03 a share, compared to the mean analyst estimate of $1.05 a share, according to FactSet.

Sales rose 3% to $3.8 billion, short of the average analyst target of $3.89 billion, as per FactSet.

Service sales growth was the prime driver of the overall increase, rising 8% to $2.50 billion, Otis said. Modernization services were in particularly high demand. New-equipment sales fell 5% to $1.29 billion.

New-equipment orders fell 2% for the quarter, as tough comparisons with a year earlier helped generate a decline in the high teens percentage-wise in the Asia Pacific region, offsetting mid-single digit growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and in the Americas.

For 2026, Otis projected adjusted earnings per-share growth in the mid-to-high single percentage digits from $4.05 a share in 2025. The elevator maker forecast adjusted operating profit in a range between $2.5 billion and $2.6 billion.

Otis, formerly owned by United Technologies, forecast 2026 sales between $15 billion and $15.3 billion, up from $14.4 billion in 2025. The company expects organic sales to grow in the low-to-mid single digits.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 28, 2026 06:40 ET (11:40 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.