Honeywell's (HON) shareholders can benefit significantly from both the IPO of its quantum computing unit and the separation of its aerospace and automation units. The quantum company, Quantinuum (QNT), began trading today, while the separation is slated to become effective on June 29. As of that date, the company will be divided into two firms: Honeywell Technologies and Honeywell Aerospace (HONA).
Honeywell holds a 49.1% stake in the quantum unit, whose long-term outlook is positive, in the wake of the IPO. And boding well for HON stock, the shareholders of a few major companies have benefited tremendously from spinoffs in the last few years. However, while the future of the company's automation unit looks very bright, investors should consider selling the aerospace business' shares immediately after the separation is completed.
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www.barchart.com Quantinuum's Positive Long-Term Outlook
Quantum computing is expected to be quite useful for many sectors. And despite the fact that the technology is only in its nascent stages, Quantinuum generated revenue of $30.9 million in 2025, and it has already obtained multiple impressive customers/partners, including BMW (BMWKY), JPMorgan (JPM), Amgen (AMGN), and Airbus (EADSY).
What's more, Quantinuum is one of several early-stage quantum companies that is slated to receive up to $100 million each from Washington, validating the firm's technology to some extent and increasing its chances of obtaining federal contracts in the future.
The company is slated to have a rather high market value of $14.3 billion. But given the huge potential of quantum computing and the company's impressive customers, the shares could easily double or triple in two or three years. Since quantum is certainly high technology and not at all connected to aerospace, it's highly likely that Honeywell Technologies will hold most or all of Honeywell's shares of Quantinuum.
The Positive Recent History of Spinoffs/Breakups
The shares of two of GE's spun-off firms — GE Vernova (GEV) and GE Aerospace (GE) — rallied tremendously in the years since GE's breakup. SanDisk (SNDK), which was spun off from Western Digital (WDC), soared to dizzying heights, while Grail (GRAL), which has developed a cancer blood test, has delivered strong gains for its shareholders after it was spun off from Illumina (ILMN). All of these success stories indicate that the Honeywell spinoffs could also generate big gains for shareholders.
Why Investors Should Consider Selling Aerospace and Retaining Automation
The commercial aerospace sector is currently experiencing significant difficulties due to the standoff in Iran. Since jet-fuel prices remain high and volatile, it's likely that many airlines are experiencing financial problems. As a result, they could very well postpone buying new airplanes and may even defer expensive maintenance projects. And because “Honeywell Aerospace technology and solutions are used on virtually every commercial and defense aircraft platform worldwide,” significant slowdowns in the purchase of new airplanes and maintenance projects involving them could prove to be meaningfully detrimental to Honeywell Aerospace.
On the other hand, Honeywell Automation appears to have many types of robotic products. With the robotics sector expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 46% between 2025 and 2034, according to one source, HA should be be to expand quite rapidly in the long term.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer had a position in: GRAL . All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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