-=Illinois Tool Works (ITW) reported earnings on Mon 23 July 2018 (b/o)

Illinois Tool reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q3 EPS in-line; lowers FY18 EPS below consensus, lowers margins reflecting price/cost related dilution 

• Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.97 per share, in-linewith the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.97; revenues rose 6.4% year/year to $3.83 bln vs the $3.85 bln Capital IQ Consensus. All seven of the company's business segments delivered positive year on year organic revenue growth, led by Welding with 13 percent. Organic growth of four percent was driven by five percent growth in North America.
• Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $1.80-1.90 vs. $1.97 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• Co issues downside guidance for FY18, lowers EPS to $7.50-7.70 from $7.60-7.80 to reflect $0.12/share FX headwind vs. $7.73 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. The company also revised its outlook for operating margin to a range of 24 to 25 percent reflecting price/cost related margin dilution. The company continues to expect to recover the impact of raw material cost increases through price actions on a dollar for dollar basis for the full year and as a result, expects the full year price/cost impact on the company's earnings per share to be neutral (as it was in the first half of 2018). The company continues to expect organic growth of three to four percent, free cash flow at or above 100 percent of net income, and an effective tax rate of ~25 percent for the year.