DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 

Eaton Corp.'s (ETN) third-quarter profit plunged 39%, as cost cuts failed to offset the impact of the auto-industry slump.

But results handily topped the company's target, with Eaton boosting its full-year earnings view and giving an upbeat forecast for the current quarter. The raised full-year outlook comes after the electrical system and hydraulics maker in July slashed its view for the year for the second-straight quarter.

Industrial manufacturers, especially those exposed to the hard-hit U.S. automobile industry, are suffering as demand woes linger. Eaton has cut 15% of its work force since 2008 and moved to reduce its auto-industry exposure. Chairman and Chief Executive Alexander M. Cutler said he expects the recovery the company is beginning to experience will continue.

For 2009, Eaton now sees earnings, excluding items, of $2.40 to $2.50, up from its July-lowered view of $2 to $2.20. Analysts' latest average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters, was $1.99.

Eaton also projected fourth-quarter earnings of $1.15 a share to $1.25 a share, above analysts' mean view of $1.06.

Meanwhile, the company's third-quarter profit fell to $193 million, or $1.14 a share, from $315 million, or $1.87 a share, a year earlier. Excluding restructuring and other charges, earnings fell to $1.21 from $1.95. The company's July forecast was 90 cents to $1 a share, above analysts' then-estimates.

Net sales fell 26% to $3.03 billion, below analysts' latest average forecast of $3.13 billion.

Gross margin ticked up to 28.1% from 28% amid the company's cost cutting.

Eaton's electrical business in the Americas, the company's biggest business by revenue, saw a 15% profit drop and 20% sales decline. Electrical sales from the rest of the world declined 28% while global hydraulics sales dropped 34%. Earnings for the two slumped 51% and 75%, respectively.

Eaton's shares closed Friday at $60.42 and didn't trade premarket. The stock has risen 36% the past year.

-By Mike Barris, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2330; mike.barris@dowjones.com