Rockwell Automation (ROK) is uniquely poised to benefit from potential policy shifts under a Trump presidency, which Morgan Stanley views as a catalyst for the US industrial sector.
"While US Industrials can broadly benefit from the policies of a Trump Presidency in our view, ROK stands out vs. others, as the company is hitting the opportunity from a trough, compounding the rate of change and bringing the sharpest NTM acceleration across US Industrials," Morgan Stanley said in a note Friday.
The firm said that while Rockwell and Eaton (ETN) are its top US reshoring picks, a notable distinction is Rockwell's recent performance where it posted a 20% organic decline, contrasting with ETN and broader industrials, which continue to show strong growth.
Despite a sharp drop in Rockwell's Q4 organic growth, the firm points to a "positive rate of change," underscored by a 25% increase in orders. Morgan Stanley believes this signals improvement, with further upside expected from a "pickup in mega-project ordering that is still on the horizon."
"ROK should see orders ramp into [fiscal 2025 - fiscal 2026] simply on completion of projects that are already underway," Morgan Stanley noted.
Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Rockwell to $335 from $320, while maintaining an overweight rating.
Rockwell shares fell 0.3% in recent trading.
Price: 285.71, Change: -0.73, Percent Change: -0.25
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